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A coalition of environmental groups will meet with councillors this week to ensure their concerns about the threat of housing construction to the Carp River floodplain are heard.
The mixed-development plan includes 6,250 homes in Kanata West, around Scotiabank Place.
The Carp River Coalition, made up of organizations including the Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital and the Sierra Club of Canada, is not against the development, but wants to ensure the health of the Carp River and its species are maintained.
Some of the proposed units will be perched on top of the floodplain in an area with a known history of flood problems—something the coalition is concerned about.
Flooding is also one of the group’s main concerns since the city has admitted that construction in the area will create a 15-per-cent loss of existing floodplain storage.
The city, however, said the development will also create 25,000 jobs.
“They are narrowing the floodplain into the development area and we are worried about where that water will go,” said Carol Gudz, spokeswoman for the Carp River Coalition. “When surfaces become hardened with urbanization you get more water run-off.”
The area is mostly farmland which acts as a sponge and slowly releases stormwater into the river.
Ms. Gudz fears the cement and rooftops will cause an increase of runoff carrying car fluids and household chemicals into the river. The group says it’s also possible that basements in the houses downstream may also become flooded.
Dennis Jacobs, director of the planning, environment and infrastructure policy branch for the City of Ottawa, says consultants conducting the environmental assessment have a strategy to reduce the flood risk.
Stormwater ponds will be created to store water until the river can accommodate it.
“They become landscape features as well,” said Mr. Jacobs.
Consultants, including a hydrologist, sociologist and engineers, are almost finished their work. The environmental assessment is expected to be made public April 26.
But the coalition is questioning the methods used in the assessment and plans to conduct its own peer review.
The coalition plans to speak to councillors on April 20, to express their concerns before the final assessment is drafted.
The coalition is also concerned the development plans conform with the legal requirements of the Drainage Act. They say the Carp River was established as a municipal drain in 1909, something Mr. Jacobs disagrees with.
“This matter has been raised a number of times with our drainage superintendent, that position has not ben substantiated. There may have been some form of use for this, but as far as city records go that isn’t the case.”
Mr. Jacobs said he is satisfied the end result of the development will be a sustainable community.
David Spence, founder and director of Friends of The Carp River, however, said the development would encourage wildlife to come back to the “much degraded habitat.”
“Given what’s there right now which is a pretty devastated landscape, with trees put back into the system you have more diversity and greater chances for more variety of species to occupy it.”
Mr. Spence did, however, share concerns about the flooding and possible runoff issues.
He said the Carp River is the closest major tributary to the two Ottawa filtration plants providing the drinking water for the city.
“We all drink a part of the Carp River,” he said.
Ms. Gudz said it is hard for most citizens to appreciate the possible impact of the 720-hectare development because the land is farmland and “not someone’s backyard.”
A joint meeting with the planning and environment committee and the transportation committee will be held May 3, at which recommendations on seeking approval to post a notice of completion will be made.