The Times Advocate, 2005-10-12, Page 17Wednesday,October 12, 2005
Exeter Times -Advocate
What protection do we have? Scotiabank helps VON
EXETER — The unthinkable horror of
American citizens helplessly standing on
roofs in New Orleans and the images of
cadavers floating in toxic flood waters
along the Gulf Coast cannot be erased from
the minds of thinking people or the hearts
of caring people.
The devastation wrought by Hurricane
Katrina, followed closely behind by
Hurricane Rita, has brought into focus the
awesome power of nature.
Staff at conservation authorities in
Ontario work with floodplain management,
planning and stewardship issues every day
but the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina (in
and around Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama, Florida and Georgia) and the
more recent tragedy of Hurricane Rita
along the Texas -Louisiana coast remind us
of the human cost of disasters in a way
that no regulations in a binder, or no dusty
legal wording, ever could.
It's understandable people are frightened
after seeing the images from the United
States over the past two months. It's also
understandable that they would ask, "What
measures are in place to protect me from
flooding?"
This column, the first in a three-part
series, is in response to that question.
When it comes to floodplain regulation in
Ontario one could say Hurricane Hazel in
1954 was our wake-up call. As a result of
the devastation and massive loss of life in
the Humber River Watershed, Ontario
embarked on a program to keep new
development away from natural hazards
such as flooding.
We at the Ausable Bayfield Conservation
Authority are vividly aware of the impor-
tance of floodplain regulation. The former
Ausable River Conservation Authority was
the first such agency formed under the
Conservation Authorities Act of 1946 and
our origin almost 60 years ago grew out of
the need for protection against floods.
There is no single way to protect property
and human life from flooding. That's why
today, in Ontario, we have a multi -faceted
water management program of flood fore-
casting, flood warning, information, educa-
tion, flood control works and preventative
environmental land -use planning.
The new Ontario Regulation 97/04:
Development, Interference with Wetlands
and Alterations to Shorelines and
Watercourses Regulation will maintain the
protection already in place under the exist-
ing regulation (Fill, Construction and
Alteration to Waterways) but also ensure
the regulation is consistent across the
province and is applied to development
which could affect (or be affected by) wet-
lands, shorelines and watercourses and —
in the case of the ABCA — sinkholes.
A conservation authority's mandate is to
prevent the loss of life and property due to
flooding and erosion and to conserve and
enhance natural resources.
Protection from flooding is accomplished
in two main ways:
I) New development
Regulations govern new development in
flood -prone areas and effective storm
water management is aimed at ensuring
that new development doesn't create extra
ALEC
SCOTT
ABCA WATER
AND PLANNING
MANAGER
potential for flooding. The
ABCA works closely with
municipalities and consult-
ing engineers on local
storm water management
projects.
2) Existing
development
Programs are in place to
protect areas where devel-
opment already exists. This
may include maintenance
of historic remedial flood
and erosion control projects and monitor-
ing watershed conditions.
One of the ways we reduce risk to life and
property, reduce potential social disruption
and protect the environment from natural-
ly occurring flooding and erosion is
through floodplain management. That
includes the maintenance of existing flood
and erosion control infrastructure, moni-
toring of watershed conditions for flood
forecasting purposes, providing emergency
planning advice, warning watershed
municipalities of impending flooding condi-
tions, and providing technical advice in
relation to lakeshore erosion and agricul-
tural land.
We operate a network of water level and
climate stations throughout the watershed
to respond to precipitation and snow melt
events and forecast stream flows and
water levels which may affect watershed
residents.
Conservation authorities have historically
undertaken remedial flood and erosion
control projects to deal with riverine flood-
ing and riverine or valley erosion. The
ABCA, in partnership with watershed
municipalities and the province, inspects
flood and erosion control structures to
ensure these structures can continue to do
their job of protecting existing develop-
ment from the hazards of flooding and ero-
sion.
These are just some of the activities con-
servation authorities undertake to protect
you. There are no guarantees Ontario resi-
dents can be protected from all natural dis-
asters in all cases. We can, however, do
our best to preserve wetlands, be mindful
stewards of the land, use progressive envi-
ronmental planning practices and have
proactive regulations and prevention to
protect property – and human life.
We can't predict the impact of a flooding
disaster like the ones we have seen in the
past two months but conservation authori-
ties are working closely with the province
to apply preventative planning to mitigate
the potential impact of any natural disaster
here.
Next week: How can we plan to avoid
disaster in Ontario?
For more information on flooding and
erosion issues contact the Ausable Bayfield
Conservation Authority at 235-2610 or 1-
888-286-2610.
We're abuzz.. .
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17
Exeter Scotiabank manager John Hayhow, second from left, presents a
$3,000 cheque toVON Palliative CareVolunteer Program chairman
Alun Thomas, Ieft.The money comes from proceeds from the annual
Scotiabank golf tournament in Mitchell.Also pictured are Scotiabank
senior personal banking officer Marion Snow and outgoing VON chair-
man Jim Tomlinson of Exeter, who represented the VON at the tourna-
ment.The VON Palliative CareVolunteer Program offers visits from
trained volunteers, bereavement support and had a resource library of
current videos, pamphlets and texts on end of life issues. (photo/submit-
ted)
Hires new supervisor
By Stew Slater
SPECIAL TO THE
TIMES -ADVOCATE
SEAFORTH
— Former
Goderich
District
Collegiate
Institute (GDCI)
principal Ted
Doherty has
joined the top
administrative
leadership of
the Avon
Maitland
District School
Board as a
supervisory
officer in
charge of sev-
eral depart-
ments, as well
as 19 schools
in Huron
County.
Doherty, who
had been
working out of
the board's
Seaforth offices
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L -------------J
as the system
principal for a
provincial gov-
ernment initia-
tive called
"Student
Success," will
retain those
duties. But he
also takes over
from outgoing
superintendent
Barry Wagner,
who recently
left after two
years with the
board to return
to the Thames
Valley District
School Board
in London.
Wagner was
responsible for
enrolment, the
implementa-
tion of the
government's
Safe Schools
initiative and
home school-
ing. Doherty
will take on
those duties,
along with
retaining the
Student
Success portfo-
lio.
"There's half
a million dol-
lars for the
board from
(Student
Success)," the
newly appoint-
ed supervisory
officer said
after the
board's first
regular meet-
ing of the
school calen-
dar Sept. 13.
Student
Success uses
specific
Education
Ministry fund-
ing to target
secondary stu-
dents at risk of
dropping out of
school.
Before the
introduction of
Student
Success,
Doherty was
GDCI principal
for five years.
In his new
position, he'll
act as superin-
tendent over
19 schools,
including
GDCI, the sec-
ondary schools
in Wingham
and Exeter,
and the ele-
mentary
schools which
feed into those
three facilities.
•
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