Immediately south of the NAGA Garden is the Nepean Creek. You can see part of the creek from the fence that runs along the south boundary of the garden. In 2012 the Nepean Creek was extensively surveyed by staff and volunteers of with the City Stream Watch Program. The report can be found at this link:
http://204.101.207.53/IM/Documents/Aquatics/City_Stream_Watch/Final_CSW2012_NepeanCreek.pdf
From the report Introduction:
Nepean Creek is approximately two kilometers long (excluding the stormwater ponds) and flows from Colonnade Business Park just east of Merivale Road to the Rideau River just south of the intersection of Prince of Wales Drive and Fisher Avenue. The headwater reaches of the creek are entombed, out letting just east of Howard Darwin Centennial Arena (formally Merivale). From that point, the creek flows along the southern edge of a highly developed residential area. A naturalized buffer has been maintained between the development and the stream, and well used recreational pathways wind their way through the area crossing the creek multiple times and connecting to residential streets. Nepean Creek has an one online stormwater pond and one offline stormwater settling pond located close to the Rideau River. The stormwater ponds were not included as part of the stream survey as they fall outside the guidelines of the stream assessment protocol.
Here are some interesting facts from the report:
Watershed surficial geology
42% clay
26% diamicton
8% organic deposits
1% bedrock
23% sand
Invasive species
Observed in Nepean Creek include purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), yellow iris (Iris pseudacorus), zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), Manitoba maple (Acer negundo), and buckthorn spp (Rhamnus cathartica).
