[All] request for help re Waterloo resources.. see bottom

Tue Jun 25 14:45:38 EDT 2013

The Region's climate expert David Rowade has noted trends that indicate the same annual amount of rainfall in fewer events based on data taken from our local weather stations. It's the storm water management that we really need to plan for. Calgary just had 6 months of rainfall in a 2 day period and over the last 10 years, they have had two 100 year floods.

 Here is an excellent article from the Former Chair of the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy discussing this fact. 

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/06/24/alberta-flooding-sets-records-prompts-calls-for-action-on-climate-change/

No doubt urban sprawl played into this by paving over their watersheds hampering infiltration of water.  

When it comes to the criteria for environmental impact studies, be it for pipelines, subdivisions or other projects,  there is currently no manditory test times or methods or standard units of measurements that engineering firms are mandated to follow. These firms are responsible for gathering the baseline engineering data but often times they undermine water risks by avoiding 12 month creek studies, proper bore hole depths, they avoid spring thaw etc. Unless the baseline testing criteria is standardized to the point it can actually secure reasonable data to determine delta water levels, then we will continue to see failures in planning processes over and over again. 

The key to protecting people from bad planning due to floods, erosion issues etc. is to secure solid preliminary baseline data that accurately reflects the hydrology of an area. We need to mandate reasonable testing criteria to follow. Right now it's all subjective. Folks can do a one day audit and get a plan approved based on that crap. We need standards set to actually mitigate risks over the long term. 

Lulu :0)

________________________________
 From: Ginny Quinn <ginny at kw.igs.net>
To: 'Norah Chaloner' <nrchaloner at hotmail.com>; 'GREN' <all at gren.ca> 
Cc: 'Josh Morel' <morel.josh at hotmail.com> 
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 11:56:53 PM
Subject: Re: [All] request for help re Waterloo resources.. see bottom

Norah    and Josh    A few years ago at a Regional    or  City of  Kitchener  council meeting  (can’t remember  which one now.... I   was encouraging    (read started pushing for)  200 year   SWMPs  Storm Water Management Ponds,  to be  put in  new developments   and basically in all new  developments:  the largest  currently  one done  is the 100 year  SWMP  but many planners and developers  don’t even want to do that.   Based on Hurricane  Hazel   and    Katrina  and now  many more....we absolutely MUST   demand   200 year   SWMPs.   NOW, once again we have our very own CALGARY AND SURROUNDING  AREAS   in an  emergency  flood. 
  Our Grandson is a Calgary  Firefighter  who has been  ‘home ‘ this past week and does not know the status of his   ( ordered to be vacated) residence   in Calgary    as he will fly back tonight     and of course will be immediately  posted to  the areas in most need.
This is a fine example   to use  Josh..but you will meet with VERY STRONG   opposition and  negativity  from the developers  and planners.   Because    ENLARGED   SWMP   size is what   they do NOT  want as  it takes up land they want to  make  profit on, in building more houses.   This  is a very important  demand  that must be  promoted  and there’s plenty of proof  in  Climate  Change  and  melting of  the  ice in Alaska.   Etc. 
  Just thought you might have already  wanted to do  this  but to let you know  you should FIGHT HARD   to  get this  discussed  and  passed in law by the Region etc. 
 The night  I attended the meeting  about  “Run off”    charges   was in Kitchener   and the only place at that time   that had done the 200 year  SWMP  was Conestoga College.  
  Speak to the Environmental  Man...I can’t take the time to  find his card  but  you’ll know  how to contact him   at the college.   Good luck    Ginny  Quinn.   

From:All [mailto:all-bounces at gren.ca] On Behalf Of Norah Chaloner
Sent: June-22-13 10:10 PM
To: GREN
Cc: Josh Morel
Subject: [All] request for help re Waterloo resources.. see bottom

Hello Folks.. this is an issue for re the K/W region. I am sorry not to have forwarded it sooner. Josh needs some help and you folks have the answers he is seeking. 
Please copy me if you can pick this up so that I know it has been looked after.. I really don't know a lot of the specific resources and needs in your area.. That said, we will be setting up a CoC chapter again in the fall in K/W.    Thanks for your help.  Norah  

Dear Norah Chaloner:
I write to you today as a member of TransitionKW. Based on the Transition movement started in the UK, TransitionKW brings citizens together to build resilience and sustainability within our community in the face of the oncoming challenges of climate change and peak oil. One of our key projects that I am participating in is the creation of a Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit (CCAT) to be used by citizens and community groups in the Region of Waterloo to increase resilience to climate change and its anticipated impacts.

As the Council of Canadians local chapter contact , our project team identified you as a stakeholder in the development of this toolkit. For this reason, I ask for your participation in an upcoming focus group session. In this focus group we aim to gain from their expertise to learn how we can improve our capacity for resilience and identify the gaps in emergency preparedness as it relates to the area of human health for Waterloo Region.

The focus group will be 2 hours long and will be held on Tuesday July 2 at 2-4PM at a location in downtown Kitchener. Dinner will be provided!

Please let me know if you will attend, and if so, at which time(s) you can come.
Sincerely,
Josh Morel
CCAT Project Team Member

P.S.
Please also let me know of anyone else you would recommend to participation in one of the focus groups. The five focus groups each cover one of the following topics:
·         Water resources (including flooding and supply)
·         Human health (including diseases, temperature stress, increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events)
·         Food and agriculture
·         Energy
·         Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________
All mailing list
All at gren.ca
http://mail.gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/all_gren.ca
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20130625/c2633ab1/attachment.html>