Water Quality Tributary Monitoring

Water quality chemistry lab results from year-round monitoring of 6 tributaries discharging nutrients to Lake Ontario during high river discharge and adverse weather events.

The samples span from 2018-2024 and were collected at the following 6 locations: Cobourg Creek, Ganaraska River, Graham Creek, Wilmot Creek within Ganaraska Conservation Authority (GRCA) and Carruthers Creek and Duffins Creek within Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).

This data supports the need to determine exit loads of nutrients to Western Lake Ontario, and of the water quality characteristics of the water discharged into the nearshore of the lake, focused on the heavily urbanized rivers which predominate on the Ontario shores of the lake. During periods of elevated river discharge coincident with wet weather and snow melt discharge volume-weighted and time-integrated water samples were collected using automated ISCO water samplers controlled remotely. The samples were analyzed for nutrients, chloride and selected water quality variables used to interpret the sources of the nutrient loads. In addition to the event samples, monthly grab samples were collected during low river flow to provide information on water quality and loading levels under river baseflow conditions. The river sampling is year-round with special emphasis on winter and early spring conditions, periods when high discharge and loading rates are most expected.

 

The laboratory analysis of the water samples was conducted at the York Durham Regional Environmental Laboratory (YDREL).

Attributes Notes

Lab: MDL = Minimum detection level that the lab can detect

Data Limitations: Some attributes of supplemental information are incomplete

Data update frequency: Not Planned

Datasets available for download

Additional Info

Field Value
Last Updated May 19, 2026, 16:31 (UTC)
Created May 19, 2026, 16:31 (UTC)
Domain / Topic
Domain or topic of the dataset being cataloged.
Title
Title for the Dataset.
Water Quality Tributary Monitoring
Description
A description of the dataset.

Water quality chemistry lab results from year-round monitoring of 6 tributaries discharging nutrients to Lake Ontario during high river discharge and adverse weather events.

The samples span from 2018-2024 and were collected at the following 6 locations: Cobourg Creek, Ganaraska River, Graham Creek, Wilmot Creek within Ganaraska Conservation Authority (GRCA) and Carruthers Creek and Duffins Creek within Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).

This data supports the need to determine exit loads of nutrients to Western Lake Ontario, and of the water quality characteristics of the water discharged into the nearshore of the lake, focused on the heavily urbanized rivers which predominate on the Ontario shores of the lake. During periods of elevated river discharge coincident with wet weather and snow melt discharge volume-weighted and time-integrated water samples were collected using automated ISCO water samplers controlled remotely. The samples were analyzed for nutrients, chloride and selected water quality variables used to interpret the sources of the nutrient loads. In addition to the event samples, monthly grab samples were collected during low river flow to provide information on water quality and loading levels under river baseflow conditions. The river sampling is year-round with special emphasis on winter and early spring conditions, periods when high discharge and loading rates are most expected.

 

The laboratory analysis of the water samples was conducted at the York Durham Regional Environmental Laboratory (YDREL).

Attributes Notes

Lab: MDL = Minimum detection level that the lab can detect

Data Limitations: Some attributes of supplemental information are incomplete

Data update frequency: Not Planned

Tags / Keywords
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Format (CSV, XLS, TXT, PDF, etc)
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Dataset Size
Dataset size in megabytes.
0.08
Metadata Identifier
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Published Date
Published date of the dataset.
2026-02-27
Time Period Data Span (start date)
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Time Period Data Span (end date)
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GeoSpatial Area Data Span
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Field Value
Access category
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public
License
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License not specified
Limits on use
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Location
Location of the dataset.
https://trca-camaps.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/camaps::water-quality-tributary-monitoring
Data Service
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Owner
Owner of the dataset.
trca_d.macleod
Contact Point
Who to contact regarding access?
Conservation Ontario
Contact Point Email
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[email protected]
Publisher
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Conservation Ontario
Publisher Email
Email of the publisher.
Author
Author of the dataset.
trca_d.macleod
Author Email
Email of the author.
Accessed At
Date the data and metadata was accessed.
2026-02-27
Field Value
Identifier
Unique identifier for the dataset.
0c0c1ca3ff734382a9ad90babd90c592
Language
Language(s) of the dataset
English
Link to dataset description
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https://trca-camaps.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/camaps::water-quality-tributary-monitoring
Persistent Identifier
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Contains data about individuals
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Contains Indigenous Data
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Portal Type
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Field Value
Version
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None
Source
Source of the dataset.
None
Version notes
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Is version of another dataset
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Other versions
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Provenance Text
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Conservation Ontario
Provenance URL
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Temporal resolution
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GeoSpatial resolution in meters
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GeoSpatial resolution (in regions)
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Field Value
Indigenous Community Permission
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Community Permission
Community permission (who gave permission).
The Indigenous communities the dataset is about
Indigenous communities from which data is derived.
Field Value
Number of data rows
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Number of data columns
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31
Number of data cells
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Number of data relations
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Number of data properties
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Data quality
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