Flood fears rising

[Spiel]

Flood fears rising

Angus and Belle Ewart affected by snow melt

 

 

February 14, 2009

IAN MCINROY / www.thebarrieexaminer.com

 

 

Snow melt and rain earlier this week have caused the Nottawasaga River to flood nearby low lying areas, wreaking havoc for some residents.

 

Shoppers at the Angus Plaza were driving through water up to their hubcaps yesterday as the Pine River, a Nottawasaga tributary, flowed into the parking lot.

 

The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority expected the river to crest around noon yesterday, while waters downstream will continue to rise over the next three to five days as water is released from the Minesing wetland. Ice jams may also occur.

 

The authority expects high flows to continue throughout the weekend and it is warning area residents to keep children away from all bodies of water.

 

Unfortunately, it's the same old, same old for Belle Ewart area residents this week as the recent thaw turned their neighbourhoods into huge puddles, and then ice rinks.

 

"It's a chronic thing that happens year after year," Belle Ewart resident John Hurd said Thursday.

 

"There are some yards that are totally covered, with the water coming up to the foundation and roads are covered. Some people I've talked to thought it was the worse they'd ever seen."

 

Mild temperatures and rain caused waters to rise Wednesday night -- forcing town officials to close some roads -- but there was still widespread flooding earlier in the day on many streets.

 

"There was two or three inches of water and it had a current to it while it was going across the road," Hurd said, adding it was much worse in other areas.

 

His wife drove through a foot of water on her way home from Alcona Thursday afternoon, he added.

 

"The ground's frozen so there's no place for the water to go. It's like it's running over asphalt," he said.

 

"All that snow melt and rain has to come from a large area well west of Belle Ewart: all the those farmers fields and gullies. So when the flooding starts, that's not the end of it. It just keeps coming."

 

Innisfil chief administrative officer Larry Allison said Thursday that roads in several areas were closed because of high water levels. Roads in some other areas were also closed, but levels were not as high.

 

"Road crews have been out continuously. This time we had the resources down there to deal with it," he said, adding that eventually, four pumps were deployed to move water into Cook's Bay.

 

Allison said as of Thursday afternoon, the South Innisfil Drain was "nearing capacity along lines 2 and 3" and that the 8th Line and Lawson Creek drains "were within their banks."

 

He's is hopeful the flooding can be minimized by some future changes in the area. "The Lefroy Settlement Area Management Inc. (LSAMI) development in Lefroy west of the GO tracks is going to do over-control of the storm water there to reduce discharge down stream. It will make a contribution to future flood relief in that area," Allison said.

 

The town will also be expanding the mouth of Carson Creek (drain) to further enhance flow, he added.

 

A timeframe for that project has yet to be announced, however.

 

"We're hoping things will cool down and get back to normal. As the temperatures cool, it will slow down the flooding."

 

Hurd said the elimination of much of the area's wetlands -- which act like sponges and help control flooding -- is one reason the area is inundated every thaw.

 

He described development in the area as piecemeal.

 

"It's a little bit of this and a little bit of that," he said. "There should never have been so much building (activity) around wetlands without proper planning and engineering solutions. If it's not done properly, it makes it worse."