DVP Stormwater Meeting Low Key Affair

Small but congenial crowd turned out for this public meeting

I attended a public meeting on the city's Class EA launched to looked at alternatives for stormwater runoff from the Don Valley Parkway. About 30 people attended this meeting which is a marked contrast to the last EA meeting I attended. The last one was run by Toronto Hydro to look into building a platform off the Scarborough Bluffs to measure wind speeds. That one was attended by over 1,000 people and was a considerably more rambunctious crowd. Both evenings were cold and raining so that didn't seem to be a factor in deterring turnout, but I digress...


Where did they get this picture?

Back in June the project team came up with three sites for stormwater ponds including a major revision to the oxbow wetland at Todmorden Mills. It took considerable lobbying by concerned members of the Friends of the Don East and the Task Force to Bring Back the Don that this wasn't a very good idea.


Display board shows proposed new pond location

It seems they got the message. At this meeting, the new plan is to place the stormwater treatment pond in the middle of a cloverleaf on ramp to the DVP which is adjacent to Todmorden Mills. Treated water would be directed into the oxbow wetland where it would make its way into the Don River. The revised plan protects the existing wetland. The new treatment pond will need to be periodically dredged to remove accumulated sediment. This process would be very disruptive to a natural habitat.

They also corrected the omission from their original drawings by mapping the location of the Enbridge gas pipeline which limits minor improvements proposed for small runoff areas. All things considered it appears to be a thoughtfully run project and once implemented should make a modest improvement to the Lower Don valley environment.


Local activist Paula Davies was instrumental in getting the Todmorden Mills stormwater treatment pond moved completely into the cloverleaf location

As with all Class EAs, the city is looking for comments about the project. Comments for this phase of the project will be accepted up until December 23rd, 2008. You can download a copy of the comment sheet from the project website.