Etobicoke Area Water Way

Joel Vosburg

103145329

Geology and the Environment

June 24th, 2013

SUMMARY:

A city in Ontario, Canada similar to the Brampton- Etobicoke region in southern Ontario is looking to expand on the current city and create a borough on the outskirts of the major, metropolitan area. This city exhibits a small range of topography, consisting of a relatively flat landscape with minor elevation changes throughout the area. The annual rainfall of the area is 910 millimeters, which is diverted into the areas rivers, lakes and marshlands. This area is unable to handle large rainfalls as the surrounding rivers overflow, which can cause catastrophic flooding. As a result major rainfall flooding did occur in 1954 and caused an unreasonable loss of life and property damage.

With the proposed urban expansion there are multiple options and scenarios to consider for this expansion. By keeping this region the same as now and not expanding into the surrounding floodplains you can keep the risk of flood damage very low with the existing parklands and marshes to control local water levels. The people in favour of urban expansion have suggested that when urban expansion would occur there would be little issues because a scenario occurring to create a flood is highly unlikely to occur again in the future. However this is not much of a solution, as it does not plan for flooding at all. A third solution is also proposed which states that urban expansion can occur but precautions have to be taken to ensure the safety of the citizens. Precautions such as floodwater diversion, flood proofing homes, and building new parklands should be taken into consideration. This solution allows the citizens of the new expansion to stay safe and please both parties by creating new land for expansion while taking precautions to avoid loss of life and property due to flooding.

STRUCTURING THE PROBLEM:

The Multidisciplinary Provincial Commission has examined the potential, environmental impacts of renewed urban expansion, under consideration for a borough on the outskirts of this major, metropolitan area referred to as Region 1. The Commission will take in all considerations regarding to proceed with expansion or to not proceed.

The problems associated with Region 1 are that the designated expansion area is prone to flooding. Region 1 is quickly expanding and new land is needed to sustain this growth. As of now there is no sufficient strategy suitable to please both parties by continuing with the planed expansion. Region 1's land use patterns do not cooperatively work with the areas climate and topography, resulting in possibility of floods to occur. To fully understand the problem, comparisons will be taken by the similar community of the Etobicoke-Brampton area to provide a thorough understanding of the present issue.

The existing land-use patterns exist because of man made adaptions to the local climate and neighborhoods protrude outward from the city downtown. The city has been able to accommodate a major population with its existing available lands but new land is needed to continue with expansion. The newly proposed expansion is to be set on a local floodplain with risks of floods occurring in the spring and summer months due to snow melt, excess runoffs and large amounts of rain. If built these houses would need to be on at most the second zone in the two-zone concept to minimalize risks by developing on the flood fringe of the flood plain. The Topography of Region 1 is similar to that of the Brampton-Etobicoke area in Ontario. Region 1 is a major watershed and can be described as being a winding ridge of sand and gravel, which was deposited during the final retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. These geological features are usually not a problem during most months, but during some hurricane seasons these soils can be rather troublesome. With larger hurricanes moving up from the Caribbean bringing large amounts of water. As a result of these factors combined, the risk of floods can be rather high depending on the size and type of storms the city will be under during the course of the year.

The following measures of effectiveness must be completed in order for our projects to be deemed successful.

* All houses that our built will be built on foundations designed to handle the amount of water associated with the region

* All diverted or removed wetlands need to be moved to a more suitable location.

* Potential for loss of property or life has to be made a complete minimum

* The land-use strategies used do not create negative effects on the environment

* There is an improvement in the close economy due to expansion

ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

There are three solutions to this problem.

1). The first option is to simply do nothing. This approach involves the continuation of all current policies and practices with absolutely no modification in land development, construction, or removal. Region 1's population will be at little to no risk of property damage or losses of life due to flooding.Region 1 will have to find new areas if it wishes to expand. The population and city size will remain relatively the same and the demand for expansion will continue to grow.

2). The second option is recommended by those in favour of urban expansion. It is suggested that Region 1 should expand the current housing infrastructure to include housing on the local floodplain. Housing will be built right on the floodplain by a local housing company. As houses are built the floodplain houses will be at great risk of flooding should river levels rise above the banks. However those in favour of this borough expansion say the chance of a flood occurring like in 1954 caused by Hurricane Hazel is highly unlikely to occur again in the future.

After construction of the houses is completed an agreement will have to be made between housing owners, the government and insurance companies to ensure all people and property are protected financially incase of flood. After agreements are made people are welcome to live in their perspective houses and will be responsible for their own protection of rising water levels.

3). The third solution is suggested