TRCA Staff Recognized at Toronto City Council

July 23, 2019

A group of deserving Toronto and Region Conservation Authority staff were present at the July 16, 2019 Toronto City Council meeting to hear first-hand how appreciated they are.

A presentation of commendation and appreciation was made by Councillor Joe Cressy, on behalf of Mayor John Tory and members of Council, to those involved in 2019 flood prevention and mitigation on the Toronto Islands during record-high water levels and flooding potential.

TRCA staff earn recognition from Toronto City Council for their contributions to flood protection on the Toronto Islands.

In particular, TRCA staff were recognized by Councillor Cressy and Mayor Tory for their hard work and dedication in preventing a devastating scenario similar to the one experienced on the Islands in 2017.

“Today, as the local Councillor, I want to extend my deepest thanks to the hard-working staff from the City of Toronto, from TRCA and the local community for protecting what is truly a gem in our city.”
— Councillor Joe Cressy

“It is a real partnership that Councillor Cressy referred to between the various departments and staff members of the City, including organizations like the Fire Service. You saw the partnership with TRCA. It’s a remarkable partnership because they have the scientific expertise to advise us what is going on with the water.”

“So to the staff and residents, thank you for learning the lessons of 2017, applying them with a lot of hard work in 2019, and making sure that a situation that could have been worse — because the water levels were in fact worse — wasn’t.”
— Mayor John Tory

As in 2017, TRCA provided technical expertise and on-the-ground assistance to the City of Toronto to mitigate the impacts of the record-high levels on Lake Ontario to the Toronto Islands. From providing wind and wave forecast updates, to creating a tracking tool to log impacts, to placing sandbags for maximum effect, TRCA staff took advantage of lessons learned in 2017.

By implementing remediation measures over the past two years, such as repairing affected areas, installing natural berms, sumps and weeping tiles, and dovetailing with the recommendations made in the Toronto Islands Flood Characterization and Risk Assessment Study commissioned by the City of Toronto, staff were able to support the efforts to mitigate flooding and keep the Islands open.

Councillor Cressy stressed the importance of the Toronto Islands to the region, noting that it is home to 700 residents, supports 30 businesses and two schools, receives more than 1.5 million visitors annually, and provides 20% of the City of Toronto’s drinking water.

He noted as well that with accelerating climate change, 100-year storms are happening more frequently, and that annual sand-bagging efforts are not the long-term solution — resilience and adaptation are.

The full video of the presentation can be found HERE starting at the 27:55 mark.