This week, in Part 5 of our Summer of Flood series, we look at concerns from rural residents who say flash flooding, as a result of two intense storms this summer, dramatically affected their properties and homes. They believe the flooding can be attributed to a lack of debris clearing and maintenance of ditches and culverts.
The Lake Report witnessed numerous locations where water enveloped properties and spoke with homeowners who believe while the neglect is frustrating, a lack of communication from town officials is compounding their anger and, in some cases, prompting them to take action into their own hands and do the cleanup and dredging the town is responsible for.
The town, on the other hand, says it’s difficult to respond proactively to every resident with maintenance concerns in a town the size of Niagara-on-the-Lake.
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Responding to urgent infrastructure concerns on an as-needed basis may not be the most effective way to prevent water and flooding issues on many rural properties, says Niagara-on-the-Lake’s operations department in response to resident criticisms.
Darren MacKenzie, the town’s acting director of operations, said while mowing and clearing of ditches and culverts does take place intermittently throughout the spring and summer months, the municipality’s size doesn’t allow for regular removal of growth and debris in all areas.
He was responding to information sent to The Lake Report which revealed many inquiries and service requests from residents to have their ditches and culverts cleared have gone weeks — and sometimes months — without a response.
The problem came to a head in June and July of this year, when a pair of once-in-a-generation storms turned many rural areas into flooded expanses, damaging properties and causing heaps of frustration.
“There hasn’t been a proactive program (for ditch cleaning) in place,” said MacKenzie.
“We do have a ditching program that is starting up in 2025 to make sure our ditches are to the proper grades,” he added.
Jim Cole, who lives on Line 7 Road southeast of St. Davids, believes a proactive approach to clearing ditches would have saved him considerable grief.
His home was almost completely surrounded by water after the June 18 deluge.
On the east side of his property, a low-lying area which is approximately 150 metres wide by 400 metres long looked like a swimming pool with depths in some areas up to 1.5 feet.
At the front of his property, the culvert under the entrance to his driveway clogged with debris, making the passage of water to the nearby municipal Harrison Drain almost impossible and filling the ditch to the rim.
Cole has always felt the upward slope of the ditch, as it heads west from his home, is also caused by a lack of maintenance and contributed to his flooding.
He believes years of neglect caused fallen growth and debris to become part of the landscape within the ditch, raising its level from the bottom-up to a point where it can no longer deliver water to the municipal drain.
“If you look west, you can see the road terrain rises up,” he said in August as he walked the length of his driveway toward the road to view the ditch.
“Well, the water can’t climb the hill.”
He believed then, as he still does now, dredging the ditch with an excavator to a flat plane will help solve the problem.
Today, Cole still hasn’t heard back from town officials following his service request for maintenance.
“No, they never did (call back) and they never came out,” he said on Sept. 23, over three months after the flood.
Cole eventually took the matter into his own hands with the help of his visiting brother-in-law.
“What we did was cut all the foliage out of the ditches there, and so that had a more clear area to try and flow, but they never came with any Gradall (excavator) or anything.”
Denise Curry, who is 71 years old and lives alone at at the corner of Concession 6 and Line 7 roads, has ditches outside her home that are filled with towering reeds and plant life.
She’s experienced the same problems and frustrations as Cole, and recalls the June 18 and July 10 flash floods, clearly because not only did they turn her property into water world, but they flowed into her basement.
“I called them (town officials) before it even got to (the house),” she said, referring to July 10 flood.
“I told them that the water is coming up further and further onto my property. During the first (storm), it was the same thing.”
Curry said someone from the town was dispatched to her property following the June 18 storm but left without any solution.
Like Cole, she took matters into her own hands, although unlike Cole, she was unsuccessful. She also suffers from cancer and is very ill.
“The guy came, and he said that, you know, there’s nothing much they could do (because) the (ditch) was clogged up,” she said.
“I told them I was out digging, trying to dig the end of the ditch because they haven’t cleaned the ditches.”
As of Sept. 24, Curry was still waiting for someone to come out and clear the ditches.
MacKenzie sympathizes with Cole and Curry, but he insists due to the size of the municipality, there is little more that can be done but for residents to file a service request with the town and wait for action.
This, he said, could take some time.
“I appreciate everyone’s patience, but if there is something that you are looking for, please either email our customer service or email myself and I will have somebody come take a look.”
MacKenzie and town maintenance staff are doing everything they can to address the concerns, he added, and said this summer’s extreme weather patterns not only frustrated residents, but town officials as well.
“This year is difficult,” he said.
“When you have great rainfall, great heat, things grow quicker. Maybe instead of three or four week intervals for cleanups, it will happen at longer intervals. So it is more or less (for town staff) to assess it accordingly.”
Cole expressed frustration with MacKenzie’s responses.
Prior to taking on the work himself, he was in contact with the town numerous times, via email, phone and in person, he said.
“I called in for a request,” he said, noting that initially he drove to the town hall and was turned away.
“They said you had to go online and basically send the message to them asking for a service request, which I did.”
“And, you know, I think I got an email back saying something that they would be in touch with me in the future.”
“I never heard anything.”
Next: Part 6 of the series will look at a Four Mile Creek Watershed study between the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority that, while in the preliminary stages of development, will take a holistic look at water issues in NOTL.
