Wilket Creek floods a drain on city funds

[attach]3515[/attach]A winter’s worth of snow will begin to melt this spring in Toronto, but an eventual spring thaw has conservation officials worried about ongoing flooding in a local waterway.

Severe flooding in Wilket Creek, a tributary of the Don River that runs from Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue to Leslie Street and Eglinton Avenue has destroyed a number of bridges and trails in the area, making it a hazard to park users.

The persistent flood damage is not only frustrating nearby residents, it’s also costing the city a whack of money, said Moranne McDonnell, a senior manager at the Toronto Region Conservation Authority.

“I can’t give you an exact figure off the top of my head but they’ve spent millions of dollars,” McDonnell said of clean-up and repair work.

Most recently, the city spent about $300,000 to commission a study to help minimize the impact of these dramatic floods.

The study will look at the amount of water flowing into the creek and how best to minimize impact on the creek itself and the infrastructure around it.

The firm commissioned to oversee the project, Parish Geomorphic, is looking to transform the creek physically to help it handle high waters.

[attach]3516[/attach]“We’ll be altering the creek, we’ll undoubtedly have some minor alignments to the trail and changes to the pedestrian bridge,” said John Parish, president of Parish Geomorphic.

McDonnell said officials need to be wary of damage to the city’s sanitary sewers.

“There are a few priority areas that need to be repaired before the study’s completed because there are sanitary sewers that are exposed right now so they need to be protected,” McDonnell said.

Parish says that sewers such as these were placed in ravines to utilize gravity as the sewage flowed toward water treatment plants near the lake. As the banks of the creek erode, the sewer can sometimes become exposed. The erosion problem is amplified in areas where the creek narrows, such as bridge crossings.

“Part of the problem in Wilket is there (are) two pedestrian bridges where the sanitary sewer is,” Parish said. “One of our big things is trying to make sure that wherever our new pedestrian bridges may be, that they’re not on top of the sanitary sewer.”

As part of the study, public meetings will be held so citizens can voice their opinions.

At least one citizen has his doubts about the work the city is doing in the area.

John Routh runs a blog called The Don Watcher that looks at issues concerning the Don River. He says he has seen firsthand the damage done to Wilket Creek by floods in the past.

He believes the source of the flooding problem is water coming from stormwater drains as opposed to natural run-off, requiring a major infrastructure overhaul.

He criticized the city for not doing enough to remedy the problem.

“They’re not willing to do basic infrastructure to fix the problem at the base,” Routh said. “All they’re doing is cosmetic fixes.”

He estimated that fixing the stormwater drains could cost tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars.

The date for the first community meetings have not been confirmed but should occur within the next few months.

Residents are reminded not to enter the ravine area during or after heavy rainstorms.