1.0 Eagle Lake Catchment: Facts
1.1 General/Physical Geography
Drainage Area
34 square kilometres; occupies four percent of the Tay River subwatershed; one percent of the Rideau Valley watershed.
Geology/Physiography
Eagle Creek catchment resides within part of the physiographic region known as the Algonquin Highlands. In the Tay River subwatershed, this ancient and hilly geologic region is made up of such Precambrian rocks as marble, conglomerates, and dark or colour banded granite-like rocks. A veneer of glacial drift (glacial till, sand etc.) overlies the bedrock. A geologic fault may run north-south through the eastern section of the catchment.
Municipal Coverage
Central Frontenac Township: (32 km2; 93% of catchment)
South Frontenac Township: (2 km2; 7% of catchment)
Stream Length
All tributaries (including headwater streams): 64 km
1.2 Vulnerable Areas
Aquifer Vulnerability
Mississippi-Rideau Source Water Protection program has mapped a small part of the catchment as a Significant Groundwater Recharge Areas and all of the catchment as a Highly Vulnerable Aquifer. There are no Well-Head Protection Areas in the catchment.
Wetland Hydrology
A watershed model developed by the RVCA in 2009 was used to study the hydrologic function of wetlands in the Rideau Valley Watershed, including those found in the Eagle Lake catchment.
1.3 Conditions at a Glance
Fish Community/Thermal Regime
Warm and cool water recreational and baitfish fishery with 16 species observed in Eagle Creek during 2016.
Headwater Drainage Features
All are natural and wetland features with the majority of them having no anthropogenic modifications.
Instream/Riparian Habitat
Eagle Creek: Low to high habitat complexity with increased habitat complexity observed in the middle and lower reach of the system within the catchment. Dissolved oxygen conditions are somewhat variable along the system with sections in the upper reach below the guideline to support warmwater biota, which can be typical of wetland habitats; however, sections in the middle and lower reaches are acceptable for warm/cool water species.
| Catchment | Woodland | Settlement |
|---|---|---|
| Hectares | -1 | +1 |
| Catchment | Woodland | Water | Wetland | Settlement | Crop-Pasture | Meadow-Thicket | Transportation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | 52 | 26 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Catchment | % | Eagle Lake | % | Eagle Creek | % | Leggat Lake | % | Streams* | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland | 64 | Woodland | 83 | Wetland | 75 | Woodland | 79 | Woodland | 56 |
| Wetland | 27 | Settlement | 11 | Woodland | 20 | Settlement | 11 | Wetland | 38 |
| Settlement | 5 | Wetland | 4 | Transportation | 4 | Wetland | 7 | Transportation | 3 |
| Transportation | 2 | Transportation | 1 | Settlement | 1 | Transportation | 2 | Crop-Pasture | 1 |
| Meadow-Thicket | 1 | Meadow-Thicket | 1 | --- | --- | Meadow-Thicket | 1 | Meadow-Thicket | 1 |
| Crop-Pasture | 1 | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | Settlement | 1 |
| Status | Species at Risk | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Threatened | Blanding's Turtle | Eastern Whip-poor-will | --- | --- |
| Special Concern | Eastern Milksnake | Eastern Ribbonsnake | Northern Map Turtle | Snapping Turtle |
| Water Quality Source | Eagle Lake | Eagle Creek | Leggat Lake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surface Chemistry | Very Good | Fair to Good | Fair to Good |
| Instream Biological | --- | Poor to Fair | --- |
Eagle Creek: Benthic invertebrate samples are more tolerant to high organic pollution levels during most years.
Water Wells
Approximately 120 operational private water wells in the Eagle Lake catchment. Groundwater uses are mainly domestic but also include livestock, public and commercial water supplies.
1.4 Catchment Care
Environmental Management
The Eagle Lake Property Owners' Association prepared the State of the Lake Report - Eagle Lake (2011) to provide a summary of what is known about the Eagle Lake catchment along with the community’s vision for the lake and a list of its main concerns and actions to address them. This has been followed up with the State of the Lake Report - Eagle Lake Update 2015.
One Environmental Compliance Approval was sought in the catchment for a camp sewage works.
Environmental Monitoring
Chemical surface (in-stream) water quality collection by the RVCA since 2003 (see Section 2 of this report).
Benthic invertebrate (aquatic insect) surface (in-stream) water quality collection by the RVCA since 2003 (see Section 3.3.1 of this report).
Fish survey and stream characterization survey on Eagle Creek by the RVCA in 2016 included taking measurements and recording observations on instream habitat, bank stability, other attributes and preparing a temperature profile (see Section 3 of this report).
Fourteen headwater drainage feature assessments were conducted by the RVCA in 2016 at road crossings in the catchment. The protocol measures zero, first and second order headwater drainage features and is a rapid assessment method characterizing the amount of water, sediment transport, and storage capacity within headwater drainage features (see Section 3.4 of this report).
Classification of Eagle Lake catchment land cover types derived by the RVCA from colour aerial photography that was acquired during the spring of 2008 and 2014 (see Section 4.1 of this report).
Groundwater chemistry information is available from the Ontario Geological Survey for one well (#13-AG-031) located in the catchment.
Stewardship
Five stewardship projects were completed by landowners with assistance from the RVCA (see Section 5 of this report).