Dear editor:

To avoid flooding and water damage you just have to get the water less than 10 kilometers to Lake Ontario. More than 90 per cent of the land area of the municipality of Niagara-on-the-Lake (~30,000 acres) is drained by municipal drains. These fall under the Ontario Municipal Drainage Act, R.S.O. 1990.

Under this Ontario law, municipalities have a legal obligation to repair and maintain these drains to their original specifications.

Section 79 of the act states that any municipality that fails to maintain the drains and it results in flooding and property damages then the municipality is financially liable to the property owner.

Have the drains been maintained and kept clear for water to drain? If you drive on Stone Road near the airport, you can see the green masses extending well above the banks. This is not natural vegetation. This is invasive phragmites monocultur, which poisons natural vegetation and habitat. It chokes the flow of water.

Cleaning the silt and debris would facilitate the movement of rainwater to the lake would diminish the occurrence of flooding.

Robert Bantor
NOTL