The Lake Report’s final instalment of “Summer of the Flood” was published this week, outlining some of the efforts both the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority are taking to get more information about how our watershed areas are affected by major storms.

It was one part of a six-part series outlining how this year flooding caused by heavy rains caused damage to homes and properties across Niagara-on-the-Lake.

It shone a light on several key factors, including outdated infrastructure and government standards for heavy rainfall — once called 100-year storm events — that is becoming more and more frequent due to our changing climate.

It outlined how the town is drastically behind on maintenance of its ditches and culverts, especially in our rural areas.

It discovered problems with stormwater capacity for the wastewater treatment plant in Niagara Falls, which is shared by many households in Niagara-on-the-Lake’s St. Davids and Queenston communities.

It captured resident sentiments about how continued development with low standards for drainage — on lands that already have improper infrastructure — has contributed to the problem by removing natural water absorption.

It got our lord mayor thinking twice before using terms like “100-year storm” to brush off widespread damage to the homes of NOTL residents.

Now, what we hope, is that it kicks council into gear to ask for a comprehensive look at flooding in town, and whether or not there needs to be a change in the way we handle our watersheds.

Already the town is seeking to redefine what an unprecedented rain event looks like. By all accounts, those extreme weather events will become more and more frequent.

Already government staff experts have conceded that, while much of the infrastructure like wastewater plants and stormwater sewers are operating at the current standard, that standard is outdated in many cases and needs to be improved and upgraded.

That’s a good step. But changing terminology is little more than lip service to the people waking up with human waste in their basements, having to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair newly built homes.

Lip service simply isn’t good enough.

The Lake Report would like to thank the dozens of residents, from all areas of NOTL, who shared their photos and flood experiences with us for this series.

We sincerely hope it will make a difference and become a priority for this council, which should demand higher standards when homes are built and in service to already established areas of town.

Because nobody wants to wake up to their home and possessions being destroyed.

Even if canoeing in your lawn does sound like a good time, we need to start fixing what’s broken.