Councillors whose wards were hit hard by the heavy rainstorm last Aug. 10 want answers about what the City of Ottawa can do to protect residents from urban flooding.
Urban flooding is especially significant in neighbourhoods with aging infrastructure and as older neighbourhoods become the target for intensification, the city’s environment and climate change committee heard Tuesday.
There are two types of flooding common in Ottawa. Riverine flooding occurs when a river floods over its banks. Urban flooding occurs during major storm events, like the rainstorm that pummeled the region last summer.
In urban floods, rainwater flows over surfaces like streets, ditches and yards and underground into storm, sanitary or combined systems. If those systems exceed capacity, stormwater or sewage can back up into basements. The Aug. 10 storm flooded streets, stranded motorists, forced the city to close major roadways and left residents struggling to clear stormwater catch basins with garden rakes and other implements.
Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr said about 30 per cent of the flooding on Aug. 10 was reported in her ward. As a new councillor, she found residents were confused about what the city’s responsibility was and what the homeowners’ was. There was also a loss of affordable housing in the ward after basement apartments flooded.
“I could really see the devastating impacts on the community with respect to people who lost a lot of their belongings and people who lost their insurance because of repeated floods and no longer qualify for insurance,” Carr said.
Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Sean Devine said every dollar spent on infrastructure should be seen as an investment in climate resilience, including clearing stormwater catch basins more frequently.
“I can’t tell you on Aug. 10 how many times I saw residents on their knees raking away leaves. I’m grateful they did,” Devine said. “But, if we’d only had the budget to send out a street sweeping truck maybe once a week before, we might not have had that calamity.”
River Coun. Riley Brockington said some residents in his ward did not have enough insurance to cover the damage to their basements.
“There are widows who literally don’t have the money to do this, whose homes are still in disrepair and they don’t know what to do because they don’t have the money,” Brockington said.
City council has invested $337.8 million to support flood mitigation and climate resilience efforts, according to a report presented to the committee on Tuesday.
One example is Rain Ready Ottawa, a pilot program offering home assessments and rebates of up to $5,000 to help homeowners install rainwater management projects such as downspouts, permeable pavements and rain gardens. The pilot and wrapped up and is under review, with a report expected for release this spring.
Another example is the residential protective plumbing program, which provides financial assistance to qualified property owners to install devices such as sump pumps and storm and sanitary backup valves. An owner affected by flooding three or more times could be eligible for a grant of up to $1,000 under the residential compassionate grant for sewer backups.
