Watershed Action Plan

The City of Hamilton (City) is developing a City of Hamilton Watershed Action Plan (Plan) to improve water quality and water quantity within the City’s watersheds and Hamilton Harbour. The goal of the Plan is to improve the health of our watershed, address community concerns, and continue to progress on the City’s environmental stewardship. This work will ultimately help to delist the Hamilton Harbour as an Area of Concern.

For many years, investments have been made into reducing point-source pollution in Hamilton Harbour. Point-source pollution comes from a single place such as a wastewater treatment plant or factory and is easy to identify. The City of Hamilton Watershed Action Plan will help to identify and guide work to address non-point source pollution. Non-point-source pollution comes from many places and is harder to identify such as runoff after a period of rain. Actions within the Plan will focus on activities that are within the care and control of the City.

The City covers a large geographical area and contains many watersheds. These watersheds are shared between several municipalities and fall under the management of Conservation Halton, the Hamilton Conservation Authority, the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, and the Grand River Conservation Authority.

A watershed is an area of land that drains rainfall and snowmelt into streams and rivers which then flows into a larger body of water such as a lake, bay, or harbour. The City will continue to work together with the Conservation Authorities to support watershed improvements beyond the City of Hamilton Watershed Action Plan.

Once the City of Hamilton Watershed Action Plan is complete, a recommendation report will be brought forward to City Council for approval. Implementation of the City of Hamilton Watershed Action Plan is expected in 2025.

Upcoming Public Meeting

Virtual public meeting May 2, 2024 at 6:30 pm
Register online
Learn more about the City of Hamilton Watershed Action Plan and the actions under consideration to help delist Hamilton Harbour as an Area of Concern.