With Spring just weeks away, Innisfil residents got the chance to have their say on flooding and stormwater at the second of three 'Before the Thaw' open houses.
“Flooding in the Town of Innisfil is a top concern for our residents and we want to ensure they have the most up-to-date information and the opportunity to learn about the Stormwater Management Master Plan and the Innisfil Flooding Strategy,” said Carolina Cautillo, Capital Planning Engineering Associate with the Town of Innisfil.
Staff from the Town of Innisfil and Aquafor Beech Limited, the engineering consultant working with the town, were in attendance.
"We specialize very much in stormwater and flooding and modelling," said Alison Gingrich Regehr, a Water Resources Engineer in training from Aquafor Beech Limited. "We do also have on staff, terrestrial and aquatic biologists, as well as geomorphologists (who) look at stream processes. So we would reach out to the different subject experts to bring in their opinions depending on what information comes out."
When InnisfilToday showed a photo of previous flooding in the town to Chris Denich, Project Manager and Water Resources Engineer from Aquafor Beech Limited, he explained that it's riverine flooding.
“This is when the rivers actually cede their capacity and swell the banks and then spill into the adjacent lands,” Denich said. “It’s a natural process, but as we build closer to the water courses, these then impact our structures, our homes… There are capacity improvements to culverts, crossings, bridges, there’s channel reconstruction or enlargements that can be done, restoration projects, and there’s also things like upstream flood control that can be done among other things. We’ll be looking at all those things for the study,” he said.
Gingrich Regehr explained that the professionals at Aquafor Beech Limited are compiling the data they are collecting from residents and staff from the Town of Innisfil, which will be used when they develop a master plan that will be presented at a later date. It will include short, medium, and long-term goals.
“Right now, we’re gathering information and having people provide their feedback, and then we’ll be working on the technical solutions, and then we’ll come back with the preferred solution for the town," Denich explained. "The master plan will identify the projects and programs, and then the town will then take that list and do the necessary studies to implement."
For those looking to voice their concerns, the open houses offer residents an opportunity to ask questions and raise issues. That's why Diane Sykes attended.
“What they do when they fix the drainage in certain areas, their solution is to take the water and dump it out into the lake," she said. "So, they have channels that are going from Leonard’s Beach, they have channels that are going from the 9th Line, they have several that are in Innisfil Beach Park, so this water is going directly into the lake after a major storm event without being properly filtered."
Residents were invited to put sticky notes on the proposed strategies that they liked on boards set up in the room. The same boards will be available at the next meeting in Cookstown, and they are also available online. Members of the community are encouraged to speak to staff from the Town of Innisfil and Aquafor Beech Limited as this process continues.
“We definitely want to encourage people to continue providing us with their feedback," said Gingrich Regehr. "Hearing from the residents is really important. Being able to have their feedback so we can understand what is happening, what they're experiencing, as well as how they feel about the different solutions that we're proposing."
When asked if there is anything people can do to combat extra water on their property, Gingrich Regehr confirmed that there are resident-appropriate mechanisms.
"When you have a forest or a field, water can soak into the ground — very little of it runs off. When you put a house on to it and a driveway, you have a lot more water running off, so there can be impacts. It can cause erosion and creeks downstream, so you can direct your downspout to a rain garden, which, from the surface looks like a flower garden potentially, but underneath it, it has special soil that helps the water to soak into the ground."
The next 'Before the Thaw' Open House will take place at the Innisfil ideaLAB & Library - Cookstown Branch, on February 28 from 4:30-8:30 p.m.
Amber Green is a freelance journalist for Village Media Inc.
