Land Use and Water

Quebec - Ottawa Bird's-eye viewQuebec - Ottawa Bird's-eye viewThe well being of any water body is strongly tied to the watershed that surrounds it. A watershed (or catchment) is an area of land from which surface runoff, including water, sediments, nutrients and contaminants, drain into a common water body, such as a lake, river, stream, creek or estuary. Watersheds include all water and water-dependent land features, including wetlands, forests, towns, humans and other living things. Land use is a way of classifying the expected activities occurring around a watershed that can affect its well being.

Land use can contribute all major classes of pollutants to receiving waters, i.e., pathogens, nutrients, and toxic materials. These pollutants may enter waters either via groundwater or surface flows. The relative contribution of pollutants from land use depends upon the pollutant and may depend upon the distance from the receiving waters.

A key component of local land use planning is the identification of critical areas for protection. Escalating growth patterns place stress on these critical resource areas, and the stress is often proportional to growth. Identification of these areas will provide communities with a planning tool to begin answering questions of where to allow development, how much of it can occur, and how best to regulate potentially detrimental future land uses.

Read more: Types of Land Use

Read Local: Land Use in My Watershed

Adapted from Pollution Probe's Source Water Protection Primer and Land Use Management in Buzzards Bay

Types of Land Use

Land Use is categorized in terms of what types of activies take place on it.  While the terms used to describe the activities on the land are quite specific, the reality may be that actual land use can be of a more mixed variety (e.g. urban areas mixed with industry, or forests with some wetlands).  The descriptions provided are to be considered guidelines, for the general type of activities that may occur in each category.

Effects on a Watershed - Draft

Impacts of Urban Land Use

Rideau Canal, OttawaRideau Canal, OttawaWhen converted from its natural condition, urban land use can cause several impacts on the downstream water body. These impacts include eroding natural streambanks, water quality, elimination of groundwater recharge and its implications on stream baseflows, and the presence of persistent contaminants from urban non-point sources.

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Land Use Management

Improper land use practices do not impact just water, but the entire watershed system, whatever its size.  A land use planning decision for site-specific development can influence many watershed management and land use planning issues. The input of environmental objectives and management recommendations to the land use planning process at appropriate stages should promote informed decision making, which will in turn lead to greater efficiency and effectiveness of both processes.

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Sustainable Land Use

Action for Sustainable Urban Land Use

Community Engagement in Sustainable Land Use Planning

Citizens (that's you!) are vital assets in planning for the future of their communities: they are the best experts about the qualities of the places they live and how those places should grow and change.
 
While informed citizen participation can slow down decision-making, it ultimately improves planning processes by building trust and respect between the devleopment community, decision-makers, and residents.

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