The Toronto waterway system comprises a series of natural and man-made watercourses in the Canadian city of Toronto. The city is dominated by a large river system spanning most of the city including the Don River, Etobicoke Creek, Highland Creek, Humber River, Mimico Creek and Rouge River. [1]
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The city has many rivers that stretch all over the city and all end up draining into Lake Ontario. Of the various watercourses that drained Toronto, the Don River, the Humber River, and the Rouge River have headwaters in the Oak Ridges Moraine.
| Name | Named current tributaries | Source location | Mouth location | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| km | mi | ||||
| Black Creek | 43°49′35″N 79°33′34″W | 43°40′10″N 79°30′41″W | |||
| Burke Brook | Havergal Stream | 43°43′14″N79°24′29″W / 43.720583°N 79.408013°W | 43°43′14″N79°21′56″W / 43.720586°N 79.365653°W | 9 | 5.6 |
| Deerlick Creek | 43°45'51.3"N 79°19'60.0"W | 43°44'34.7"N 79°20'09.8"W | 3 | 1.9 | |
| Don River | Castle Frank Brook, Yellow Creek, Taylor-Massey Creek, Burke Brook, German Mills Creek, Mud Creek | 43°59′20″N 79°23′57″W | 43°39'02.8"N 79°20'50.2"W | 38 | 24 |
| Duncan Creek | 43°48'05.1"N 79°21'20.5"W | 43°48'29.5"N 79°22'17.4"W | 2 | 1.2 | |
| Etobicoke Creek | Spring Creek, Little Etobicoke Creek | 43°47′19″N 79°53′39″W | 43°35′05″N 79°32′28″W | 61 | 38 |
| German Mills Creek | Duncan Woods Creek | 43°54′42″N 79°28′54″W | 43°47′48″N 79°22′56″W | 10 | 6.2 |
| Highland Creek | West Highland Creek | 43°48′54″N 79°16′51″W | 43°46′0″N 79°08′41″W | 29 | 18 |
| Humber River | Albion Creek, Berry Creek, Black Creek, Centreville Creek, East Humber, Emery Creek, Humber Creek, King Creek, Purpleville Creek, Rainbow Creek,Salt Creek,Silver Creek, West Humber | 43°56′36″N 80°00′14″W | 43°37′56″N 79°28′19″W | 100 | 62 |
| Keating Channel | 43°39′05″N 79°20′52″W | 43°38′46″N 79°21′27″W | 1 | 0.62 | |
| Mimico Creek | 43°44′26″N 79°44′06″W | 43°37′19″N 79°28′54″W | 33 | 21 | |
| Mud Creek | 43°41'40.8"N 79°22'50.7"W | 43°40'57.0"N 79°22'00.6"W | 2 | 1.2 | |
| Rouge River | Little Rouge River, Little Rough Creek, Katabokokohk Creek, Bruce Creek, Beaver Creek | 43°56′07″N 79°24′34″W | 43°47′41″N 79°06′55″W | ||
| Taylor-Massey Creek | 43°46′00″N 79°18′47″W | 43°42′12″N 79°19′59″W | 16 | 9.9 | |
| West Highland Creek | Southwest Highland Creek | 43°49′00″N 79°18′15″W | 43°46′27″N 79°11′58″W | ||
| Yellow Creek | 43°41'27.5"N 79°23'26.3"W | 43°40'47.6"N 79°21'55.8"W | 3 | 1.9 | |
The Humber River is a river in Southern Ontario, Canada. [2] It is in the Great Lakes Basin, is a tributary of Lake Ontario and is one of two major rivers on either side of the city of Toronto, the other being the Don River to the east. It was designated a Canadian Heritage River on September 24, 1999. [3]
The Humber collects from about 750 creeks and tributaries in a fan-shaped area north of Toronto that encompasses portions of Dufferin County, the Regional Municipality of Peel, Simcoe County, and the Regional Municipality of York. The main branch runs for about 100 kilometres (60 mi) [3] from the Niagara Escarpment in the northwest, while another other major branch, known as the East Humber River, starts at Lake St. George in the Oak Ridges Moraine near Aurora to the northeast. They join north of Toronto and then flow in a generally southeasterly direction into Lake Ontario at what was once the far western portions of the city. The river mouth is flanked by Sir Casimir Gzowski Park and Humber Bay Park East. The Source of the River is the Huber Spring Pond and the basin is 903 km2 .
The Don River is a watercourse in southern Ontario, that empties into Lake Ontario, at Toronto Harbour. Its mouth was just east of the street grid of the town of York, Upper Canada, the municipality that evolved into Toronto, Ontario. The Don is formed from two rivers, the East and West Branches, that meet about 7 kilometres (4 mi) north of Lake Ontario while flowing southward into the lake. The area below the confluence is known as the lower Don, and the areas above as the upper Don. The Don is also joined at the confluence by a third major branch, Taylor-Massey Creek. The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is responsible for managing the river and its surrounding watershed. The Don Valley is notable because of its deep wide valley in the lower reaches due to its glacial origins. Due to the urbanized nature of the watershed, the Don River experiences low base flows interspersed with high volume floods. The river flows into Lake Ontario at the Keating Channel at Lake Shore Boulevard East which is at the north east corner of the Toronto Harbour. The Source of the River is the Oak Ridge Moraine and the basin is 360 km2 . The average flow of the river is 4 m3/s.
The Rouge River is a river in Markham, Pickering, Richmond Hill and Toronto in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. The river flows from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Ontario at the eastern border of Toronto, and is the location of Rouge Park, the only national park in Canada within a municipality. At its southern end, the Rouge River is the boundary between Toronto and southwestern Pickering in the Regional Municipality of Durham. The Source of the River is the Oak Ridge Moraine and the basin is 336 km2 . The average flow of the river is 1.76 m3/s.
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The city also has many rivers that were buried or completely removed to make way for development and the rapid expansion of the city. [4]
Richmond Hill is a city in south-central York Region, Ontario, Canada. Part of the Greater Toronto Area, it is the York Region's third most populous municipality and the 27th most populous municipality in Canada. Richmond Hill is situated between the cities of Markham and Vaughan, north of Thornhill, and south of Aurora.
The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional Municipality of York, in 1970. It replaced the former York County in 1971, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area and the inner ring of the Golden Horseshoe. The regional government is headquartered in Newmarket.
The Don River is a watercourse in southern Ontario that empties into Lake Ontario, at Toronto Harbour. Its mouth was just east of the street grid of the town of York, Upper Canada, the municipality that evolved into Toronto, Ontario. The Don is one of the major watercourses draining Toronto that have headwaters in the Oak Ridges Moraine.
The Humber River is a river in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is in the Great Lakes Basin, is a tributary of Lake Ontario and is one of two major rivers on either side of the city of Toronto, the other being the Don River to the east. It was designated a Canadian Heritage River on September 24, 1999.
The Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, also known as the Humber Portage and the Toronto Passage, was a major portage route in Ontario, Canada, linking Lake Ontario with Lake Simcoe and the northern Great Lakes. The name comes from the Mohawk term toron-ten, meaning "the place where the trees grow over the water", an important landmark on Lake Simcoe through which the trail passed.
Whitchurch-Stouffville is a town in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada, approximately 50 km (31 mi) north of downtown Toronto, and 55 km (34 mi) north-east of Toronto Pearson International Airport. It is 206.22 km2 (79.62 sq mi) in area, and located in the mid-eastern area of the Regional Municipality of York on the ecologically-sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine. Its motto since 1993 is "country close to the city".
The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of 1,900 square kilometres (730 sq mi) between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough. One of the most significant landforms in southern Ontario, the moraine gets its name from the rolling hills and river valleys extending 160 km (99 mi) east from the Niagara Escarpment to Rice Lake, formed 12,000 years ago by advancing and retreating glaciers during the last glaciation period. Below the approximately 200 metre thick glacial derived sediments of the moraine lies thick bedrock successions of Precambrian rocks and up to 200 metres of Ordovician aged rock, capped by a regional unconformity of erosion and non-deposition to the Quaternary period. Rivers and lakes scatter the landscape and are important for creating habitat for the rich diversity of species of animals, trees and shrubbery. These are also the supply of fresh water to aquifers in the moraine through complex subterranean connections. Construction development nearby, and with expansion of communities around the moraine in need of potable water, it is a contested site in Ontario, since it stands in the path of major urban development. Conservation of the moraine is thus an important step for keeping aquifers in a safe drinkable condition while also protecting the natural ecosystems surrounding and within the moraine. This region has been subject to multiple decades of scientific research to study the origins of formation, and how early communities used the land. A larger focus currently is how to source potable water without removing the aquifer entirely.
The Rouge River is a river in Markham, Pickering, Richmond Hill and Toronto in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. The river flows from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Ontario at the eastern border of Toronto, and is the location of Rouge Park, the only national park in Canada within a municipality. At its southern end, the Rouge River is the boundary between Toronto and southwestern Pickering in the Regional Municipality of Durham.
Etobicoke Creek is a river in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It is a tributary of Lake Ontario and runs from Caledon to southern Etobicoke, part of the City of Toronto. The creek is within the jurisdiction of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.
The Toronto waterfront is the lakeshore of Lake Ontario in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans 46 kilometres between the mouth of Etobicoke Creek in the west and the Rouge River in the east.
The Southern Laurentian Channel is an ancient underground river in southern Ontario, Canada. The river predates the recent ice ages. The river valley was filled with glacial debris. Water still flows down this old valley—underground. The source of the aquifer is the Georgian Bay, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) away.
German Mills Creek is a river in the municipalities of Markham, Richmond Hill, Toronto and Vaughan in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Great Lakes Basin and is a left tributary of the East Branch Don River. It originates in Vaughan, flows south through Richmond Hill and Markham, and empties into the East Branch Don River in the East Don Parklands in Toronto, south of Steeles Avenue between Bayview Avenue and Leslie Street. It is part of a number of streams, swamps and swales located near the Oak Ridges Moraine. The creek's approximate length is 10 kilometres (6 mi).
Preliminary research on the hydrology of the Oak Ridges Moraine began in the 1970s, but a broader research effort including the impact of urban development on the aquifer system and Great Lakes water quality was established in 1993. The research locus is the Geological Survey of Canada and the University of Toronto Groundwater Research Group, though other groups have made substantial contributions to this project.
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is a conservation authority in southern Ontario, Canada. It owns about 16,000 hectares of land in the Toronto region, and it employs more than 400 full-time employees and coordinates more than 3,000 volunteers each year. TRCA's area of jurisdiction is watershed-based and includes 3,467 square kilometres (1,339 sq mi) – 2,506 on land and 961 water-based in Lake Ontario. This area comprises nine watersheds from west to east – Etobicoke Creek, Mimico Creek, Humber River, Don River, Highland Creek, Petticoat Creek, Rouge River, Duffins Creek and Carruthers Creek.
Rouge National Urban Park is a national urban park in Ontario, Canada. The park is centred around the Rouge River and its tributaries in the Greater Toronto Area. The southern portion of the park is situated around the mouth of the river in Toronto, and extends northwards into Markham, Pickering, Uxbridge, and Whitchurch-Stouffville.
The Toronto ravine system is a distinctive feature of the city's geography, consisting of a network of deep ravines, which forms a large urban forest that runs through most of Toronto. The ravine system is the largest in any city in the world, with the Ravine and Natural Feature Protection Bylaw protecting approximately 110 square kilometres (42 sq mi) of public and privately-owned land. The ravine system has been presented as a central characteristic of the city, with the size of the ravine system leading Toronto to be described as "a city within a park".
The Black River is a river in the Regional Municipality of York and the Regional Municipality of Durham in Central Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Great Lakes Basin, and is a tributary of Lake Simcoe; the entire watershed is under the auspices of the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority.
Lynde Creek is a stream in the municipalities of Whitby and Scugog, Regional Municipality of Durham, in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It is in the Great Lakes Basin, is a tributary of Lake Ontario, and is under the auspices of the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority. The creek begins on the Oak Ridges Moraine in geographic Reach Township in the municipality of Scugog, and flows south to its mouth in the southwest of the town of Whitby. Portions of the 132.19-square-kilometre (51.04 sq mi) watershed also extend into the town of Ajax, the city of Pickering and the municipality of Uxbridge.
Bowmanville Creek is a stream in the municipality of Clarington, Regional Municipality of Durham in south-central Ontario, Canada. It flows from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Ontario at Bowmanville. The creek is under the auspices of the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority.
Duffins Creek is a waterway in the eastern end of the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. The watershed of the Duffins Creek is part of the Durham Region and the York Region.
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