The Credit River Watershed
A watershed is an area of land that drains into a river or stream. The Credit River Watershed is located in southern Ontario on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Its boundaries are based on ecology, making the watershed fall partially within the Region of Peel and the Region of Halton.
Situated within one of the most densely populated regions of Canada, the Credit River
Watershed contains some of the most diverse landscapes in southern Ontario. The Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve, the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Greenbelt all bisect the watershed.
The Credit River is 90 km long and meanders southeast from its headwaters in Orangeville and Mono, through nine municipalities, finally draining into Lake Ontario at Port Credit in Mississauga. Nearly 1,500 km of streams and creeks empty into the Credit River along this route including: Black Creek, Silver Creek, Shaw’s Creek, Fletcher’s Creek, Caledon Creek and the East and West Credit Rivers.
The river's headwaters are located above the Niagara Escarpment, a World Biosphere Reserve, and are the source of four rivers; the Credit, Humber, Etobicoke and Nottawasaga.
The Credit River is home to a wide range of wildlife including 244 species of birds, 64 fish species, 41 species of mammals, five species of turtles, eight kinds of snakes, 17 amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders and newts) and 1,330 species of plants.
Home to 45 different species of fish, the Credit River is the most diverse cold-water fishery in Ontario, if not eastern North America.
