Credit Valley Conservation

Founded	May 13, 1954
Type	Conservation authority
Focus	Habitat conservation, water conservation, wildlife management
Location	Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Area served	Credit River Watershed, including parts of Peel Region, Halton Region, Wellington County and Dufferin County
Key people	Deborah Martin-Downs, CAO[1] Karen Ras, Chair
Website	www.cvc.ca

Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) is one of 36 conservation authorities in Ontario, Canada, responsible for protecting, restoring, and managing natural resources at the watershed level. CVC operates within the Credit River watershed and smaller adjacent watersheds that drain directly into Lake Ontario, as well as along a section of the Lake Ontario shoreline. Together, these areas make up CVC's jurisdiction. CVC is a member of Conservation Ontario.

CVC works in partnership with municipal governments, schools, businesses, and community organizations to deliver locally based environmental programs.

CVC receives its funding from municipal sources, as well as grants and donations made to the Credit Valley Conservation Foundation, self-generated user fees, and other service fees.^[2] CVC was founded in 1954 when much of the Credit River watershed was used for rural agriculture and pasture. Since then, there has been rapid urban development within the southern portion of the Credit River watershed, within the Cities of Mississauga and Brampton.

Conservation Areas

Credit Valley Conservation operates 11 conservation areas and other protected territories:

• Belfountain Conservation Area
• the Cheltenham Badlands
• Elora Cataract Trailway
• Island Lake Conservation Area
• Ken Whillans Resource Management Area
• Limehouse Conservation Area
• Meadowvale Conservation Area
• Rattray Marsh Conservation Area
• Silver Creek Conservation Area
• Terra Cotta Conservation Area
• Upper Credit Conservation Area^[3]

Activities

CVC is actively engaged in water management. The average daily flow of the Credit River is 690,000 cubic metres, 65% of which comes from groundwater.^[4] An estimated 750,000 residents in the Credit River Watershed, 87% of whom live in the lower third of the watershed, in present-day Mississauga and Brampton. In 1999, 21% of the watershed was developed, and by 2020, 40% of the watershed will be developed (based on approved development and the official plans of the municipalities).^[4]