Sundial Creek
Orillia, Ontario, Canada
Sundial Creek is a cold water, trout-bearing stream in the heart of downtown Orillia. Urban stormwater runoff is mixing with the cold water stream and overloading it with siltation and pollution such as nitrate-nitrogen.
This site is monitored by Conservancy volunteer Jane Bonsteel. In the past, this site has also received attention from Jeff Cole's Environmental Studies Students at Patrick Fogarty Secondary School and other Couchiching Conservancy volunteers.
Sundial Creek has historic significance in Orillia as a source of water for hydroelectric generation, and as a cold-water creek sustaining cold-water fish species such as Brook Trout. It is sourced from underground springs originating further up Fittons Road that were known as the Fittons Springs in the 1800’s. The MNRF took efforts to naturalize the stream in the 1980’s by creating riffles and pools, to support a population of Brook Trout occurring naturally in the Creek. While the Creek is in many respects healthy, it is also under a great deal of pressure from urban development. The failure of siltation fencing from construction on Fittons Rd. in 2016 lead to the natural stream substrate being covered by a thick layer of sandy silt, which still remains today.
This site has been monitored since 2016. In 2020, moved the monitoring site a couple meters downstream (625791,4943075) to improve ease of access for testing.
- Group: Couchiching Conservancy : Community Science Water Monitoring Program
- Site ID: WQ61
- Lat: 44.6298786
- Lng: -79.4148231
- Waterbody Type: Creek
- Timezone: Canada/Eastern
Latest photos
Sample analysed by Aquatic and Environmental Lab to compare P and N levels with the kit.
More colour than usual in the sample
Cloudy and drizzle during testing. Rain in past 48 hours. Lots of water in the wetland- standing water and side streams parallel to creek
Unseasonably cool, cloudy. Rain in past 24 hours.
Clear today, rain previous day.
Sunny day, dry weather overall. Very light rain on June 24.
Rain in the past 48 hours.
Vegetative cover is now gone.
Yellow archangel observed at walking entrance to Grant Wetland. Silt deposit noted at merge of Sundial Creek in Bay St. Drainage.
Sand has shifted since last visit, picked a deep spot to sample, water is flowing but lots of vegetation covering creek in most areas.