Public Consultation Unit
55 John Street, 19th
Floor
Toronto
Ont. M7Y 2W1
December 18, 2009
Attention: Josie Franch, Public Consultation Co-ordinator
Re: Etobicoke Stormwater Management Facilities Study–Ward 6
We are responding to the community
meeting you held at the Assembly Hall on November 12th 2009 where
the public was invited to submit comments on the implementation of stormwater
management faculties in South Etobicoke. Your e-mail on November 23rd
indicated that preliminary comments would be acceptable into December given the
amount of material to absorb.
Friends of Sam Smith Park is a community group of local residents and park users
dedicated to protecting, enhancing and preserving Colonel Samuel Smith Park. Our organization has been in existence for
over three years and our primary interest is to maintain the park as a nature
park. The park houses a diversity of
environments that provide food, habitat and protection for the many species of
birds, animals and plants that live there.
It is popular with birders, wildlife photographers and those who
passionately enjoy urban, naturalized areas.
Given that focus, our first
response is to indicate that we see this initiative not only as a means of
improving water quality for fisheries, water birds and aquatic vegetation but
as an opportunity to increase natural habitat in the park. For that reason, we would certainly favour
implementation designs that blend in with the natural environment such as
wetland, wet pond and/or flow balancing system. The mechanical systems, in our opinion, are inappropriate for Sam
Smith Park.
There are a couple of creeks in
the park that do not have enough water to support much aquatic life. Jackson Creek is buried and we have watched
the flow of water in North Creek reduced to a mere trickle over the years.
We would like to see Jackson Creek
daylighted and augmented with increased flow from stormwater. The water would flow into the northern swale
(north-east corner of the park), creating a shallow wetland for water
treatment, and run under the roadway into the smaller swale from where it could
be piped under the gravel path south to the lake or continue as it presently
does to Rotary Park.
North Creek flows into the wetland
pond through a spruce grove forming a beautiful riparian pathway that attracts
migrating songbirds in the spring and fall.
Water flow is erratic and insufficient; the pond fed by the creek is
frequently below optimal water level.
Stormwater could be diverted to supplement the base flow and increase
opportunities for aquatic life in the creek.
If a wet pond system is
considered, then its location must be carefully chosen. Aside from diminished water flow in North
Creek, the TRCA sections of the park seem to function well and would not
benefit from too much disturbance. They
probably would not be suitable for another pond unless one could be put into
the cultivated meadow adjacent and east of the Lakeshore Yacht Club. Other locations north of the bicycle path
should be considered.
A flow balancing system might work
very well in and around the lake outflow from the wetland pond. We understand that such a system can treat
water coming from both directions. The
two bays in that area are collectors for algae floating in from the east along
the shore and can smell pretty bad in the summer.
Lastly, we would like the City to
look at a stormwater consolidation scenario that utilizes more than just one
site. If all the stormwater in the
South Etobicoke catchment basin flows into Sam Smith Park, then, naturally, a
more substantial management system requiring ill-fitting, engineered solutions
would be needed. Even though there are
exciting opportunities for habitat enhancement in this initiative, as we have
described above, the park’s naturalized areas are sensitive and we fear that
they might be overwhelmed.
Considering that the Etobicoke
project is part of the City’s 25-year wet weather flow master plan, the
recommendations and observations we offer here must be considered as merely
preliminary in what we hope will be a longer consultation process. It is
impossible to understand all the ramifications of each design choice in such a
short time without all the questions being answered.
We would be glad to discuss this
with you and look forward to the next stage of this initiative.
Yours truly
Terry Smith
Acting Chair, Friends of Sam
Smith Park
CC Councillor
Grimes
Nancy
Gaffney, TRCA
Laurel
Broten, MPP
Michael
Ignatieff, MP
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