The City of Ottawa is relying on outdated maps and incomplete stormwater-management research when considering development applications, says a local advocate for improved stormwater-management planning.
It’s up to residents to educate themselves about stormwater management issues in their community – such as ditches clogged with vegetation or culverts too small to handle a major rainstorm – so they can challenge development proposals that increase flooding risks, said Faith Blacquiere.
The Glen Cairn woman delivered a presentation on stormwater management issues during a meeting of the March Rural Community Association on Feb. 8.
But Blacquiere is making a judgement based on the limited resources and documents available to her, said Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson.
City planners use updated maps and reports when considering a development application, said Wilkinson.
“They use updated maps, but the updated maps don’t always get on the website,” she said.
City planners also consider outlying areas which might be affected by a new development, she added.
“They do look at the big picture,” said Wilkinson. “They might not say that in the report, but they do.”
Wilkinson said she hasn’t had any problems with staff reports on development applications during her two terms on council.
“Any of the new developments in my areas haven’t had problems,” she said. “The problems have been with the old areas.”
WHERE WILL THE WATER GO?
Blaquiere, a retired librarian, doesn’t have an engineer’s degree or formal training in city planning, but said she started to educate herself after a series of floods in her community.
She said she learned how to read technical planning documents, such as hydro-geological reports prepared for the city’s stormwater management studies.
The trick is knowing what to look for, said Blacquiere.
“What I’m looking for is: where is the water supposed to go,” she said. “Look for what they are not saying.”
After her community was hit with three floods over the past two decades, Blacquiere, who walks with a cane, toured her neighbourhood, mapping the location and condition of stormwater management sites and drainage systems.
Blacquiere said she has sent reports raising issues about flooding dangers in Glen Cairn to City of Ottawa staff, but they were returned unread because the data wasn’t first reviewed by an engineer.
If residents suffer a flood or notice a potential flooding risk, it’s up to them to notify both the city and their community association, she said.
“You have to take action within the community,” she told the people gathered at the March Rural Community Association meeting.
Blacquiere’s message resonated with Kanata’s rural residents, said Judy Makin, president of the March Rural Community Association.
Blaquiere said she has identified the following problems with the city’s stormwater management planning:
* Allowing development and infrastructure on land with vulnerable aquifers.
* Not using new technology for the city’s stormwater management retrofitting and development planning.
* Not considering the effect of beavers on drainage.
* Entombing water courses in culverts.
* Diverting water courses and filling wetlands.
* Ignoring ditch drainage during planning.
* Considering development applications piece-meal without considering wider affected areas.
“What she’s doing is prodding,” said Wilkinson, “and that’s good making sure the city’s doing a good job.”
RURAL WATER CONCERNS
Rural residents have raised concerns about country lot estate developments in Kanata and West Carleton.
The city has placed a moratorium on new development applications for country
estate lots until it has a chance to figure out what is a reasonable size for rural development.
Rural residents rely on wells, not city water, said Makin – and the land’s aquifers can only handle so much drilling to create new wells.
Country estate lots rely on digging a well on two-acre lots, said Makin, when previous practises was spacing out wells on 10-acre lots.
Residents are worried the drilling will hurt water quality, she said.
“We’ve raised that concern time and time again,” said Makin. “Those developments have proceeded.”
Gord Henderson, a member of the Coalition to Protect the South March Highlands, delivered a presentation on stormwater management problems with the Beaver Pond development in Kanata Lakes.
The city issued a report last year, which was released to opponents of the Beaver Pond development under the Municipal Freedom of Information Act, disputing a developer’s report on how much stormwater Kizell Pond and the Beaver Pond can hold.
The new report, prepared by AECOM, contrasted with information provided by IBI Group, consultants for KNL, a partnership of Urbandale and Richcraft Homes.
AECOM’s report calculated that Kizell Pond could hold about 12,000 cubic metres of water, where the IBI Group’s report estimated capacity at around 86,000 cubic metres. After that the water would spill over onto Goulbourn Forced Road.
The city has placed a temporary hold on the development.
Beaverbrook has been hit with several floods over the past summer, said Henderson. Last July, sewage seeped into 40 homes following a rainstorm.
If the city allows the Beaver Pond development to move ahead, the surrounding area will face similar flooding issues, said Henderson.
Recently, community associations in Kanata north, including Kanata Lakes, Beaverbrook and Briarbrook-Morgan’s Grant, have formed an umbrella group to lobby against unwanted development in their neighbourhoods.
“We don’t trust the city,” said Henderson. “I really don’t think the city has the best interest of its citizens in mind.”
The March Rural Community Association will hold its next meeting on March 14, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Town Hall in Morgan’s Grant.
blair.edwards@metroland.com