In this final instalment of our Summer of Flood series we look at joint plans by the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority to review and improve the Four Mile Creek Watershed. NOTL residents have long complained about a lack of maintenance and care to municipal drains, ditches and natural watercourses. The results of this neglect have been regular flooding on private properties and public roads for years.
The Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority are teaming up on a study of the Four Mile Creek watershed to review its health and find where improvements may be needed.
When completed, the report and its recommendations will be hot items with many NOTL residents looking to learn how it will address flooding issues in the Four Mile Creek watershed, which covers about a third of NOTL.
The NPCA defines a watershed as “an area of land that catches rain and snow, and drains or seeps into a marsh, stream, river, lake or groundwater. Gravity and the land’s topography (the high and low areas) move water, rain, and snowmelt across the landscape from one area to another.”
Overdevelopment of lands and clogged natural and manmade drainage systems are suspected contributors to the bloated groundwater levels in NOTL this year.
Those levels literally overflowed when a pair of heavy storms in June and July dumped record amounts of rain in areas of NOTL in less than an hour.
Even before those storms, residents were complaining of storm ponds, ditches and culverts either overgrown with plants and reeds as well as garbage and other non-natural debris, causing water to back up onto rural properties and into homes.
In urban areas, development has become a suspected cause of flooding because it covers up permeable lands where moisture was able to penetrate the surface and distributed it through the natural watercourse and eventually out into Lake Ontario.
With non-permeable surfaces such as concrete, water remains on the surface and looks for places to go such as back into existing in-ground infrastructure through manholes openings, causing an overload situation and sending water spewing back up onto land.
Then there is an occurrence called infiltration.
This is when surface water seeps back into in-ground infrastructure through underground cracks or connection points, causing overflow situations, also sending water back into streets through manhole openings.
Infiltration also affects wastewater infrastructure in the same manner, sending sewage back through the pipes and into people’s homes.
These scenarios played out in homes throughout NOTL during the summer storms, infuriating residents who at best had to deal with stormwater flows on their streets, and in the worst case scenario had disgusting backups of sewage in their basements.
The new Four Mile Creek study will take a wide look at the entire creek system to prevent flooding and ensure a healthy environment and landscape, said the town’s director of community and development services, Kirsten McCauley.
“The goal would be to look at the current conditions, look at the natural areas, the watercourses, understanding what we’re seeing right now and then reviewing that based on future development and future change in the area,” said McCauley.
Following that, she adds town staff will look into “what we need to do to ensure that everything is working appropriately.”
NPCA chief administrative officer Leilani Lee-Yates is promising the study will take a deep look into flood causes and solutions.
“This project includes updating the floodplain mapping using more current technologies such as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and other base-layer data,” Lee-Yates said.
“This mapping will provide a clearer picture of current flood risks and assist property owners in identifying hazards on their lands,” she added.
Like the town, the NPCA hopes the study will provide answers about the watershed beyond flooding.
“Looking at the broader sub-watershed allows us to monitor and assess the full characteristics and complexities of the system, including how changing climate conditions affect watershed hydrology and erosion dynamics,” she said.
“This integrated approach aims to provide new insights into watershed health and set a baseline for future decision making and restoration planning.”
Coun. Sandra O’Connor hopes the study will be completed soon so council can review and debate it during upcoming 2025 municipal budget talks.
“The sooner we have this, the better, because it’s going to impact our budget,” she said.
“We are going into budget planning in the next couple months, so we’re going to need a number from staff on that to put in the plan.”