Turtle Creek sub-watershed is 192 km2, and flows through Turtle Creek, a small community on the western edge of the Town of Riverview. The Turtle Creek reservoir was created by damming this stream, to provide the main supply of drinking water for the tri-community area (the City of Moncton, City of Dieppe and Town of Riverview).
The reservoir is 15,000 hectares in size, and is protected under the provincial Watershed Protected Area Designation Order, which puts strict limits on the type of activities that can be done within 75 meters of the reservoir.
The Turtle Creek watershed is mainly forested, and managed by the City of Moncton, with a caretaker living on site. The land-use in the area is mostly residential with some rural activity as well, the only large facility being the Veolia water treatment plant. The city has recently conducted an expansion program which created another reservoir just upstream.
Regular monitoring is done in the summer to monitor for water quality and nutrients in the summer months. Monthly water samples are taken year-round for bacterial analyses as dictated by the Department of Health. Regular environmental monitoring for possible sources of pollution is conducted as part of a source protection plan, which ultimately makes drinking water safer, and costs less money to treat.
Recommended preliminary classification:
Class AP: Turtle Creek watershed