Ingersoll Corridor Watershed
The Ingersoll Corridor is a mainly agricultural watershed that covers聽22410 ha (224 sq. km). It聽includes portions of the municipalities of South-West Oxford, Zorra, East Zorra-Tavistock, Ingersoll,聽Woodstock and Thames Centre.聽Watercourses include part of the South Thames River River as well as the Dick-Telfer, Whitings, Halls, Henderson, WW Sutherland, Patterson & Robbins, Foster, Carr, Hendry, Golspie,聽Thornton, Huggins, Hart, Walker, Moon and Sally drains or creeks. There are five聽Provincially Significant Wetlands: Five Point Woods, Golspie Swamp, Foldens Swamp, 聽Burgess Park Wetland, and聽Thames River Wetland.
Halls Creek
The UTRCA, in partnership with the Town of Ingersoll, Oxford County Trails Council and Carmeuse, recently completed an erosion control and stream health project on Halls Creek in Ingersoll. The project goals were to stabilize the streambank while enhancing and creating new fish habitat.
This site is聽very constrained. The stream grade is greater than 2%, with private property and buildings on the west shore of the creek, underground sewers and paved pathways on the east side, an off-line pond immediately upstream, and a concrete rectangular channel at the head of this reach that speeds up flows and was a barrier to聽fish. In recent years, the creek has progressively eroded the banks, risking damage to the Thomas Ingersoll Scenic Trail in Smith鈥檚 Pond Park and the adjacent properties.
Working within a budget and with no room to adjust the stream pattern, the preferred solution was to install rip rap along the creek鈥檚 banks to improve bank stability. Riffles and pools were created in the creek to enhance aquatic habitat, improve water quality and provide fish passage through聽the cool water system. In the fall, trees and shrubs will be planted and an attempt made to add live stakes of native shrubs in the stone, to soften the appearance and add more diversity.
The project will help improve public safety, protect the public trail, and reduce erosion along 100 m of the creek. It was funded by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change鈥檚 Great Lakes Guardian Community Fund, and the RBC Blue Water Community Fund.