Taylor-Massey Creek (Don)
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Taylor-Massey Creek is a tributary of the Don River (Toronto), in Toronto, Ontario. It flows through Scarborough and East York where it enters the Don River. The creek is named after two prominent Toronto families. The Taylors were a wealthy family that owned and operated the Don Valley Brick Works. The Massey family were the owners of the Canadian farm equipment manufacturing company, Massey-Ferguson. Both families owned sizable estates in the vicinity of the creek. The Goulding Estate, a heritage property on Dawes Road was part of the Massey estate. Taylor-Massey Creek has also been called Silver Creek and Scarboro Creek.
Description
Taylor-Massey Creek is 16 kilometres long. Its headwaters are near Pharmacy Avenue and Highway 401. The original headwaters were buried during the construction of the 401 so the creek now starts at a storm water outfall just south of the highway.
The creek starts in Terraview Willowfield Park, a restoration project, named after a nearby public school. It flows through two medium sized ponds with naturalized channels. From there it flows southeast through a series of concrete lined channels and drains. This section runs along an abandoned hydro right-of-way before entering a residential and industrial section that is closed to public access.
South of Eglinton Avenue East, it enters a shallow ravine and flows south passing through Pine Hills Cemetery. It exits the cemetery travelling west, and enters a small park on St. Clair Avenue East. At Warden Avenue it turns southwest moving through a park called Warden Woods. West of Pharmacy Avenue it enters a city run golf course. At Victoria Park Avenue, it enters Taylor Creek Park and continues uninterrupted to where it empties into the Don River East Branch just north of the forks of the Don.
Problems
The Taylor-Massey Creek watershed exists entirely within an urban setting and has suffered severe degradation. The upper portion of the creek is encased almost entirely in concrete lined channels which increases the flow of the river and provides little habitat. Other sections are constrained by rock filled gabion baskets. The water is heavily polluted from storm water outfalls that empty directly into the creek.
In June 2005, the city performed a water quality study that revealed the presence of high levels of e.coli bacteria and other contaminants [link]. Periodic spills from adjacent industrial lands has also increased contamination. Due to the poor water quality and the engineered riverbanks, the creek shows little signs of life.
Several places in the ravine were also once municipal landfills, although all of them have now been shut down.
Restoration efforts
In 1993, a citizens group called Friends of the Don East began environmental restoration projects along the creek and the adjacent ravine land. They have planted trees and shrubs and have been involved in the restoration of small wetlands. FODE has created a watershed plan called the Taylor-Massey Project that lays out a plan for restoration in the watershed. This includes public education of watershed issues and the creation of volunteer stewardship groups [link].
In 2003, the City of Toronto implemented the Wet Weather Flow Management Master Plan which calls for a reduction of storm water flow into Taylor-Massey Creek and also recommends a restoration plan that will improve habitat in the creek for fish and other water dwelling organisms [link]. The city has also pledged to locate illegal sewer hookups and redirect them into sanitary sewers.
References
- [Report on Taylor-Massey Creek storm water outfalls] by Lou Di Gironimo, City of Toronto. Sept. 2005. Retrieved June 7, 2006.
- [FODE's Taylor Massey Project], Friends of the Don East. 2004. Retrieved June 7, 2006.
- [Toronto Wet Weather Flow Management Master Plan], City of Toronto. Retrieved June 7, 2006.
External links
- [Friends of the Don East website]
- [Table from outfall report, June 2005: contaminant levels]
- [Table from outfall report, June 2005: locations of contaminated outfalls]
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