BACKGROUNDER
Findings of Dr. G. Clarke Topp, soil physicist
Dr. Clarke Topp is one of Canada’s most eminent soil physicists, now retired from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. This Summer, Dr. Topp made measurements of soil permeability at seven locations around the perimeter of the portion of Leitrim Wetland that is supposedly ‘protected.’ His conclusions are unequivocal:
* The permeability of the upper 1.5 m of soil materials in the area is moderate to high. Water flow and loss of water can occur very quickly and extensively.
* The ‘protected’ wetland has suffered serious adverse impact from the drainage for the houses that have already been built (Findlay Creek Village Stage 1).
* Further drainage and hydrology changes to lower the water table north of the ‘protected’ wetland (to permit further housing development) will – within months, not years – result in rapid lowering of the water table in the ‘protected’ area and initiate its degradation.
Dr. Topp also provided a note in support of objections raised by the Sierra Club of Canada and the Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital to the application for a Permit To Take Water. In it he concludes that the calculations performed by the applicants’ consultant (Golder Associates Ltd.) neglect the complexities of the aquifer in the area and are totally unreliable.
Read Dr. Topp’s reports here:
Report I (9 pp.)
Report II
Biography of Dr. Topp