Green City Clean Waters

When you hear “Philadelphia”, what comes to mind? Their hockey team, maybe? Or the historic cracked Liberty Bell? You might be surprised to learn that this venerable eastern U.S. city – founded in 1682; home to six million – is in the news as North America’s green model on managing storm water.

Since many older Ontario cities struggle with chronic stormwater pollution, we would be smart to look closely at the landmark agreement signed days ago between the City of Philadelphia and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Green infrastructure is at the heart of a $2 billion plan to manage the city’s stormwater runoff. With the EPA’s blessing and technical support, the city will address its aging infrastructure of pipes and concrete – not by perpetuating grey technology, but by shifting to green approaches such as porous pavements, rain gardens, grassy swales and green roofs. As this inspiring three-minute video shows, Philadelphia has embarked on a 25-year plan to capture at least the first inch of each storm through green solutions. One example of how the city is overturning conventional approaches: the city bills landowners for stormwater based on the amount of impervious surface area. Private landowners who reduce impervious surfaces can receive almost 100% rebates on their stormwater bill.

Green Infrastructure is a concept that is right for our times, and my latest Annual Report encouraged Ontario ministries to embrace it. It is a tool that can help us prepare for the twin challenges of a rapidly growing urban population and a less predictable future climate, marked by more extreme weather events and higher flooding risks. Green infrastructure can provide cost-effective approaches in many settings and at many scales.

The Ministry of Infrastructure (MOI) has a key role to play in making green infrastructure a mainstream approach in Ontario. In June 2011, the ministry released a Long-term Infrastructure Plan for Ontario called Building Together. I am pleased that this new plan does at least contain language encouraging municipalities to use green infrastructure. But MOI could also leverage the greening of many provincial projects: MOI was charged with oversight of close to $16 billion worth of infrastructure projects in 2010/2011 alone. There are compelling arguments for MOI to seize the huge potential embodied in green infrastructure, and to translate the encouraging green words of Building Together into pilot projects, measurable targets and goals.

In Southern Ontario, we’re very fortunate to have approximately 560,800 hectares of wetlands. These important natural heritage features are home to a wealth of species such as fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and insects – including many species at risk.  Wetlands also act as filters to clean our drinking water by absorbing excess nutrients like phosphorus. They also act like natural pieces of our infrastructure in protecting properties from flooding as they soak up and slowly release stormwater runoff.

Despite their ecological and hydrological importance, the protection of wetlands in Ontario is often at odds with urbanization, agriculture, and other types of development.  Since pre-settlement time, we have lost 72 per cent or 1.4 million hectares of the wetlands in southern Ontario. Historically, wetlands were viewed as wastelands and were drained for other land uses such as crops, livestock pastures and urban development.  Unfortunately not much has changed today.  In 2010, Ducks Unlimited Canada released a report, Southern Ontario Wetland Conversion Analysis, which showed that wetland loss is continuing at an alarming rate.

While there are some policies in Ontario aimed at protecting wetlands, there are many loopholes that need to be fixed.  For example, the Provincial Policy Statement (2005) restricts development and site alteration in provincially significant wetlands designated by the Ministry of Natural Resources.  Unfortunately, this protection only applies to wetlands that have been evaluated and designated, and many remain unevaluated.  Even if a wetland is designated as provincially significant, the Provincial Policy Statement allows municipal drains and infrastructure like wastewater and water systems, highways, and roads to be built within its boundaries.  Local conservation authorities also regulate development and site alteration in and around wetlands, regardless of their significance, to protect life and property from flooding and erosion hazards.  Unfortunately, provincial funding to conservation authorities has not increased since the 1990s, which severely constraints their ability to maintain existing levels of flood protection and to deal with emerging threats like climate change.

Today is World Wetlands Day – the date on which the international Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was signed in 1971.  The treaty is a framework for countries to conserve and plan for the “wise use” of all the wetlands in their territories and designated Wetlands of International Importance.  Canada is a signatory to this convention and eight Wetlands of International Importance are located in Ontario. Aichi Biodiversity Target 5 under the International Convention on Biological Diversity, to which Canada is also a signatory,  calls upon governments to reduce the rate of loss of all natural habitats at least in half and where feasible, close to zero by 2020. In my recent special report, Biodiversity: A Nation’s Commitment, an Obligation for Ontario, I identified that the constitutional responsibility for meeting the Aichi Biodiversity targets lies with Ontario and the other provincial governments.  Today, and every day, we should remember how valuable Ontario’s wetlands are.  The provincial government should ensure that the small fraction of wetlands that remain in southern Ontario are conserved and protected and that the rate of loss is reduced or eliminated altogether.

Interested in protecting our wetlands and forests? Safeguarding our precious water sources? Promoting transit and walkable communities where you live?

The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO) is releasing a primer on land use planning in Ontario that highlights the ECO’s research and recommendations over the last decade.  Land Use Planning in Ontario: Recommendations of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario from 2000-2010 will hopefully be a useful tool for the public to participate in our shared decision-making processes.

Ontario’s land use planning system shapes how our communities develop and what activities may take place on the broader landscape. At the core of this system is the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS). Its importance is immeasurable.  Faced with the dramatic loss of our province’s biodiversity and the pervasive impacts of climate change, it is critically important that our land use planning rules are up to the job.

Currently, the Ontario government is doing its five-year review of the PPS. I would encourage everyone who wants to help shape the future of our communities and protect our rich natural heritage to share their opinions at every opportunity!

Whether it’s sharing your thoughts on a planning project in your town or your insights on an important new provincial law that is being considered before the legislature, your voice is important.  It’s my job as Environmental Commissioner to make sure your voice is heard, as well as be the voice of our environment that can’t speak for itself.

Ontario’s land use planning system shapes how our communities develop and what activities may take place on the broader landscape. At the core of this system is the Planning Act, which is the primary land use planning law that affects municipalities and privately-owned lands. Under the authority of this law, detailed policy directions are set forth in the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS). Its importance, in how it shapes both communities and the natural landscape, cannot be understated.

In our last Annual Report, we asked the question: Is Ontario’s land use planning system responsive to change? Faced with the dramatic loss of our biodiversity and the pervasive impacts of climate change, it is critically important that our land use planning is up to the job.

In many of our annual reports to the Ontario legislature, we’ve said that insufficient weight is given to environmental planning and protection in Ontario’s land use planning system. Times they are a-changin’ – and we need to keep pace.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is currently doing its five-year review of the PPS. The ministry has posted a notice on the Environmental Registry, accepting public comments until August 31^st.

Interested in protecting our wetlands and forests? Safeguarding our precious water sources? Promoting transit and walkable communities where you live? I would encourage everyone who wants to help shape the future our communities and protect our rich natural heritage to submit their opinions!

Click here to read some of what we’ve written in the past on land use planning.