Policies & Threats Related to Greenspaces
At Environment Committee, May 19, 2015 The Greenspace Alliance’s submission (May 19, 2015) The City’s new proposals and decision (October 2016; updated February 2019) ECO calls on the Province to lead stormwater funding reform (November 2016) Province proposes runoff volume control targets (July 2017) What Waterloo, Victoria and Halifax are doing About rain gardens and road run-off
After a summer of reworking its Spring proposals, on October 3, 2016 the City tabled its revised recommendations. The slides used by staff at the October 18 Environment Committee meeting are here. Earlier, the City issued a What We Heard report about the Spring consultations. Find it here (1 MB). Following the Environment Committee meeting, the Clerk’s Office made a 74-page file available containing submissions from 50 citizens, redacted for
The Province of Ontario proposes to develop a Low Impact Development Stormwater Management Guidance Manual. On EBR No. 012-9080 it posted two consultants’ reports, “a jurisdictional scan of international stormwater management requirements for controlling rainwater volumes, and potential runoff targets.” “The Manual is intended to be used by municipalities, conservation authorities, land developers and their consultants. Similar to the 2003 Stormwater Management Planning and Design Manual, this Guidance Manual will
On November 15, 2016, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario issued a report, “Urban Stormwater Fees: How to Pay for What We Need (report ; media release). The report notes that Ontario municipalities now face a $6.8 billion deficit to fix existing stormwater infrastructure and accommodate future growth. As a first step, the government should require all municipalities to prepare asset management plans for both their grey (pipes, drains) and green
And: Stormwater is an asset! And: Sustainable Prosperity report! Excerpts from two bulletins by The Umbrella: Rain gardens blooming across North America (# 49, 20 Oct 2016) Rain gardens are inexpensive and simple to build. They are an environmentally sound method of managing urban stormwater runoff with the added benefit of beautifying city streets and neighbourhoods. These bowl shaped gardens capture rain onsite and reduce the amount of runoff entering
Water Rate Structure Review – 2015/16 The Umbrella held a webinar on October 28, 2015, with presentations from Waterloo, Victoria and Halifax on their work implementing a separate fee for stormwater facilities. We advocated introducing this in Ottawa when we appeared before Environment Committee on May 19. SW fees are charged in proportion to the amount of impermeable surface of any property. That is fairer pricing and offers an opportunity
At Environment Committee, May 19, 2015 On May 19, 2015, Ottawa’s Environment Committee considered a staff report on the long awaited Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Rate Structure Review. The report recommends overall guiding principles for the restructuring of the way the City charges for these services and proposes to return by Q1 2016 with a proposal. (Here is the slide deck used by staff at Committee.) The recommendations were accepted
Water Rate Structure Review – 2015/16 Here is our submission to Environment Committee on May 19, 2015: (as PDF here) The Greenspace Alliance welcomes this review. We especially applaud the inclusion of consideration of separate stormwater cost recovery and creation, with its own budget, of a Surface Water Management Branch in Environmental Services. We are aware of ample studies in other jurisdictions (in Ontario and elsewhere) that demonstrate that a)
The City advises: “One of the principal actions arising from the event was to provide a summary of what we heard from you on how to protect the health of Ottawa’s rivers, lakes and streams. …the attached documents … outline participant feedback, list a summary of the outcomes, as well as the identification of next steps in the development of Phase 2 of the Water Environment Strategy and the Eastern
