20 Million for the Brick Works

Ceremonial cheque being presented to Evergreen. (left-right) Lawrence Cannon, Ken Tannenbaum, Geoff Cape, George Dark, and Jim Flaherty.

Today, Evergreen announced that they have received $20 million in funding from the Federal government. This is in addition to the $10 million received from the province. This money will go towards the renovation of the Brick Works to create a mixed use environmental centre which will also act as Evergreen's national headquarters.

The announcement was held at the Brick Works, outdoors. Fortunately, it was relatively mild. It attracted quite a few journalists and TV cameras, more than I've ever seen in the valley. Media stories so far, are spinning this as an environmentally positive announcement from the Federal government. The Toronto Star, managed to put in an anti-Miller dig who wasn't present today. Other reports that I've read include the CBC, and a widely available Canadian Press article.

According to Evergreen, they hope to start work in the summer of 2007 with some sort of opening by 2008-9.

Guided Tour Through Glendon Forest

After Wednesday (last exam) I'll be able to post more (gotta keep my nose in the books for two more days). Until then you can peruse this site that I found. Someone has posted some pictures of Glendon Forest as well as describing a self guided hike that you can take starting at the north end of Sunnybrook Park. The site titled "Toronto Hike - Glendon Forest and Crother's Woods" although there are no hikes listed for Crothers' Woods yet. Enjoy.

Recent Wildlife Sightings

Exam time sure puts a crimp in my blogging time. Still I have been following this discussion on a local mountain biking website called DropMachine. Turns out that the bikers have been stopping to smell the flowers, er... take pictures of wildlife. So far they posted pictures of hawks and deer, two common residents of the valley (a recent article in the Toronto Star told the story of a deer that was hit on Bayview but taken to an animal shelter to be nursed back to health. Just don't release it back into the Don).

There was also this photograph of a paw print made in an area nicknamed "The Flats" by the biking crowd. This is an area in Crothers' Woods beside the river that they use mostly for building stunts. There has been some fanciful discussion about what made it (do you believe -black bear?) but my guess is it's likely a dog paw print. If anybody knows different, let me know.


Unknown paw print

Don River in the News

I follow a cycling blog called BikingToronto. Periodically it publishes a summary of traffic accidents, especially those involving bicycles, of which there have been quite a few recently. For some reason they also publish all the other accidents - maybe they have a morbid curiosity.

Anyways, this accident was listed which details a crash on the DVP where a drunk driver veered into another car. A female passenger in one of the cars was ejected from the vehicle and flew over the side of the road and into the river. Personally if I had a choice between landing on pavement and landing in the Don, I'd choose the latter, even if it is a little yucky. She escaped with a broken arm and a few cuts.

Designing a River Mouth - with an Elephant on Your Back

In the case of the Don River mouth, the elephant is named Hazel, after Hurricane Hazel. That one event set the benchmark for the maximum flow that needs to be planned for. The analogy they gave at the latest public meeting for the Don Mouth Naturalization & Port Lands Protection Project was that the base flow of the Don River is about 3 teaspoons. A 10 year flood is about 1 large jug of water while flows measured during the hurricane were about 6 large jugs. Quantifying those,

• base flows - 4 cubic metres/sec,
  
• 10 year flood - 250 cubic metres/sec,
• Hurricane Hazel - 1694 cubic metres/sec!

So you can see what the planners are up against.

The meeting was well attended. Many of the faces (and opinions) I recognized from previous meetings. The presenters took us quickly through what has happened to date, then they went into detail about the various options.

First, there are five different channel profiles that could be constructed from a lacustrine marsh to a created wetland. Then there are six different vegetation communities that could exist in and around the channel. Eliminate the obvious losers and tie the remaining ones to the four exit options gives 14 viable options.


Five alternatives for river channels


Six different vegetation communities

The next step in the process will be studying the various alternatives in detail and narrow it down to a short list of 2-5 options. Based on the presentation, it seems that they are already leaning towards the dual channel option. This would have the base flow directed towards the harbour or the ship channel with an alternate channel that is mostly dry. The dry channel would accommodate heavy floods which would normally overflow a single channel.


14 viable alternatives

They also talked about the criteria that they need to evaluate and it is a daunting list:

• naturalization
• flood protection
• operational management of the river
• integration with infrastucture (roads, railways, sewers, etc)
• recreational and cultural opportunities
  
• coordination with other planning efforts

There were two other presentations but I'll save those for a another blog.

Don Mouth EA meeting

The TRCA is holding another meeting in an ongoing series for the Don Mouth EA. I've blogged about this several times and you can read past notes by searching Don Watcher (use search tool in upper left hand corner).

This notice has been widely circulated but in case your not in the loop, here it is:

The Rise of a New Don
Public Forum #3
Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Project

In August 2006, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) approved the Environmental Assessment Terms of Reference (TOR) submitted by Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA) for the Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Project (DMNP Project).

Toronto and Region Conservation, on behalf of the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation (TWRC), is proceeding with the Environmental Assessment. The study will identify the alternative that will best transform the existing mouth of the Don River into a healthier, more natural river outlet to the lake, while reducing the risk of flooding to 230 hectares of urban land east and south of the river, and incorporating opportunities for public use and enjoyment.

Join us at a Public Forum and Open House where you can:

• View the results from the technical screening of alternatives
• Learn about how the alternatives will be further refined
• Comment on the proposed evaluation criteria that will be used to select a short list of alternatives
• Speak with the project team
• Be updated on related projects

This event supports the TWRC’s mandate to renew and revitalize Toronto’s waterfront.

Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Registration: 6:15 p.m.
Open House: 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Presentation/Public Forum: 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Metro Hall, 55 John Street, Rooms 308/309 and 304

For more information, contact Michelle Vanderwel at 416-661-6600, ext. 5280, or send her an email.

For more information on the project, please visit the TRCA website. The TRCA has also published a newsletter for the project which you can view here.