As
part of the long assessment process, there have been public meetings and
smaller consultations with the Community Working Group. In spite of assurances still coming from the
Councilor’s office that the community is in favour of this expensive, highly
engineered solution, there has always been unanimous preference from the
community in both forums for naturalized processes for dealing with storm water
(“preference for naturalized facilities and enhancement of existing habitat” –
the planners’ own words) - for more resilient, decentralized forms of
management like source infiltration, ponding and wetlands that would create ecological assets for vegetation, urban wildlife and human enjoyment rather than
last-century, concrete and metal, big–pipe thinking.
In
spite of them asking over the years what the community wanted and being told,
there is no incorporation of any natural feature whatsoever in their plan – not
even a trickle of runoff added to the rapidly dwindling North Creek in Sam Smith that feeds
our wetland and provides a movement corridor for birds and mammals!
Ponds
for handling storm water are commonly used in subdivisions around the GTA now
and, of course, we have the example of Sherbourne Commons in the East Side of the
City where storm water flows through an artificial wetland, an urban river and
art features before entering the lake. A quick internet search reveals innovative examples from all over the world. There is room for wetland expansion at Sam Smith and, if the flow was decentralized, at other
waterfront parks along the shore – Marie Curtis, Rotary Park, Cliff Lumsden,
Prince of Wales, Amos Waites and Humber Bay.
The
issue for Friends of Sam Smith Park is that, while applauding efforts to clean
up the lake for wildlife and aquatic vegetation, there is little emphasis on
source solutions (only 10% of Toronto Water's budget for stormwater management) like bioswales in parks and around parking lots, permeable
surfaces and so on to reduce the flow that ends up at the lake, and no use
of end-of-pipe stormwater for habitat enhancement or water parks for human
enjoyment. There is little imagination
in this plan and there will be no assets for the community.
Another
"dog and pony” show!
