The Grand Grand EarthCache

This Earthcache will include a lovely walk along the the Grand and the trail that runs alongside it. Parking waypoints have been added for your convenience. One is a shorter walk with a couple of caches on the way. The other is longer but has more caches and allows you to visit the Pioneer Tower, a historical landmark in our region. You may log your find right away with answers to follow soon afterward, note below for further details. Enjoy the walk and remember to bring your camera!

There are 925,000 people living in the Grand River watershed, mostly in larger cities that include Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Cambridge and Brantford. Agriculture is a major industry in the north and south areas of the watershed with its moderate climate and excellent soils

Most communities start along waterways due to their environmental and economical influence. Smaller towns and villages, including Caledonia, Paris, New Hamburg, Elmira, Fergus, Elora and Grand Valley, complete the urban composition of the Grand River.

A major challenge for the future is helping the Grand cope with population growth as communities rely on the river or wells for their water supplies, and all of them discharge their treated sewage into the river. With up to 300,000 more people expected to be living in the Grand River watershed by the year 2031, improving or even simply maintaining the quality of the Grand while conserving its natural habitats will be a major challenge.

What you need to do:

To help you better understand the Grand River watershed, your goal is to:

Step 1 - read the following information on the Grand River watershed then answer the appropriate questions that follow with research you’ll need to conduct on your own.

Step 2 - Visit the posted coordinates. At the location you will see a sign that will have the answers to the remaining questions on it.

Step 3 - if you want take a picture of yourself at or near the location… by the sign, on the nearby bridge or along the river itself.

Step 4 - Supply your answers to the CO by email, then log your find along with any photos you take if you wish. Log entries that don't have answers sent along within seven days will be deleted.

The Grand River

The Grand River watershed encompasses all the land drained by the Grand River and is the largest watershed in southern Ontario. The Grand starts near Dundalk, a small town which is among the highest points in Southern Ontario at 525 meters, or 1,722 feet, above sea level. It flows south 280 kilometers to its mouth at Port Maitland on Lake Erie. The elevation at Lake Erie is about 174 meters, or 571 feet, above sea level.

The Grand is a "dendritic" river, meaning it is shaped like a tree, with the Grand River as the tree trunk and many branches or tributaries that join it along the way. Some of these tributaries are major rivers in their own right. These include the Conestogo River that joins the Grand above Waterloo and the Eramosa River that joins the Speed River near Guelph, which joins the Grand in Cambridge. A fourth major tributary is the Nith River, which enters the Grand in Paris. There are hundreds of other smaller creeks and streams that flow into the Grand.  The Grand River, combined with its tributaries, drains 6,965 square kilometres, one of the largest watersheds in southern Ontario.

QUESTIONS:

1. The Grand is a dendritic river. In geomorphology, a drainage system is the pattern formed by the streams, rivers and lakes in a particular drainage basin. Dendritic is one type of a drainage system, name two others.

2. Please provide an example of another dendritic river.

3. The area surrounding the GZ is a regulated floodplain. From the sign, state who own some of the flood plain around the Grand and describe in your own words what a regulated floodplain is.

4. The sign at GZ will show that dams have been built at various locations along the Grand. Name the seven locations of the dams and provide three reasons why dams are needed.