Over the past century, we have manipulated our natural creek beds and waterways, thinking there would be no consequence.

We were wrong.

By burying and rerouting creeks, we frustrated nature’s flood controls in exchange for a system of culverts that allows heavy rainfall to move quickly and directly into Cootes Paradise and Lake Ontario, picking up contaminants like metals and oils along the way.

Extreme rain events brought by a changing climate will continue to overwhelm our wastewater and stormwater system, increasing the chances of flooded basements, more sewage overflow and more contaminants entering our waterways and natural habitats.

Smart cities are responding with new approaches to land and water management. Hamilton can do the same.

I’m Committed to Advocate For

• Maintaining support for a firm urban boundary. Sprawl brings more impermeable paved surfaces contributing to flooding and contamination downstream.
• Introducing a stormwater financing scheme that will ensure industry, big box retail and institutions with large impermeable parking lots have an incentive to install permeable surfaces and pay their fare share for runoff into public infrastructure.
• Adopting a Blue Green Infrastructure (BGI) system  to water and land management. This approach copies nature to reduce the volume of rainwater entering our piping system. Bioswales in parks can hold and slowly absorb rain water. Native tree roots create passages in the soil to hold water in place and mitigate urban heat island effects.  Daylighting or opening up parts of buried creeks can assist with flooding.
• Prioritizing the completion of the Urban Forest Strategy and advocate for more native tree planting and protection measures.
• Continuing to work with local water keepers such as the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Bay Area Restoration Council and Indigenous groups to champion the remediation and protection of Cootes Paradise and its tributaries.