We hope that the Province…

We hope that the Province will consider the addition of the karst groundwater recharge and discharge zones of the headwater regions of Judges Creek and Albemarle Brook on the Bruce Peninsula for Greenbelt expansion. This area covers 4,775 hectares west of the Niagara Escarpment.

This submission is supported by past and current research on karst hydrogeological systems on the Bruce Peninsula. The focus of the work has been to improve our understanding of the role of karst aquifers in suppling abundant, high quality water to the headwater areas of stream systems that flow into Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. In these systems, groundwater recharge occurs in upland areas, circulates through a body of bedrock, and supplies cold, high quality baseflow to surface stream channels. The quantity and quality of water resources for residential, agricultural, recreational and ecological purposes in downstream locations are dependent on preserving the integrity of karst zones.