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Flood relief for some Britannia Village residents might have come too late.
With mild temperatures already here and rain expected in the coming days, a few Britannia residents living along the shore of the Ottawa River are a metre away from flooding not experienced in the area for 30 years.
“Anxious eyes are watching Britannia,” said Bay Coun. Alex Cullen.
Water levels are 58.6 metres above sea level. Flooding will begin when the water rises to 59.5 metres.
SHORT-SIGHTED
In August 2006, the majority of the almost 100 Britannia residents living along the floodplain rejected paying 50% of the $400,000 cost it would take to build a berm and improve existing flood-prevention measures.
The city said it would pay half the cost and collect the balance from residents over 10 years through property taxes.
Cullen said he was disappointed the property owners in the 100-year floodplain rejected the plan to build floodproofing measures.
He said there is nothing they can do now with potential flooding that hasn’t been seen since the 1970s.
It was only last year the residents decided to accept the offer.
“Hindsight is 20/20,” said Cullen. “You can’t rewrite history.”
The city takes measures each year around this time to protect residents in the area of Cullen’s ward who are at risk of flooding by installing temporary floodgates at the end of two streets and making sand and bags available to residents.
As a result of a city-led study in 2006 that looked at the affected area, officials came up with two scenarios to deal with potential flooding.
The first was a berm that already exists and could be raised, along with providing additional drainage.
The second scenario includes the first plus more substantial drainage and the construction of a berm along the south section of Britannia Park.
Patrick Larson, a senior water resources technician with the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, said “nuisance” flooding has already started in the region and could get worse as warmer temperatures arrive.
“We do expect it to get more significant as the snow melts,” said Larson. “We expect a bit more of a surge.”
The authority is keeping a close eye on the Ottawa River water flows because any rise in the basin will affect Britannia residents.
Larson said if residents had taken action in 2006 to increase the size of the berm, anxiety levels would be much less, however, many of the residents are flood veterans.
“Most of them know what to do,” he said. “If they are new to the neighbourhood, they should talk to their neighbours.”
The Ottawa Sun