FLOODING NEEDS FEDERAL REVIEW: CR COUNCIL "$56"-*5 4r/&84
La rivière des Outaouais a inondé Clarence-Rockland et les communautés voisines des deux côtés de la frontière Ontario-Québec à trois reprises au cours des sept dernières années. Le maire de Clarence-Rockland, Mario Zanth, espère que le gouvernement fédéral interviendra et aidera les personnes touchées à trouver des solutions. - photo d’archives
JOSEPH COPPOLINO joseph.coppolino@eap.on.ca
time and every municipality is paying out of their pocket for this,” said Mayor Zanth. “And this is not something that we plan. So, when someone says, ‘Oh, it’s a 100-year flood, we’ll be fine for another 100 years.’ And then something like this happens, major flooding in 2017, 2019 and now 2023.” Clarence-Rockland will also put the call out to neighbouring municipalities to join in the effort to come up with solutions for what has become a costly, financially and emotionally, occurrence for the area. “I don’t think too many people who are flooding are going to refuse to sign on to this,” said Zanth. “I plan on doing a lot of calls to mayors, MPs, MPPs and MLAs.”
Preparedness Bill Blair conduct a com- prehensive third-party study of the Ottawa River “in order to provide the Ottawa River Planning Board better tools to adapt the river to the influence of climate change and from the impact of development,” and create a cross-border consultation board of impacted municipalities to oversee the scope of work. “This motion essentially gets people on both sides of the border involved,” said Mayor Zanth. “The mayors and the MPs say we have an issue. So, we’re asking the federal government to get involved and figure out the management of the river, because, with three major floods in seven years, something’s not right.”
In 2017, spring rain nearly doubled the annual average causing a 100-year-term flood. In 2019, history repeated itself and forced declarations of states of emergency for a number of communities along the river. This year’s freshet, the annual spring snow and ice melt which causes the river to rise, threatened and damaged some residences once again. Zanth and the city administration hope a better understanding of the river and its freshet will give the planning board and municipalities better tools and management practices, ultimately reducing the river’s impact on residents. “The floods are costing us money every
Flooding along the Ottawa River in the spring of 2017, 2019 and 2023 reached devastating levels for Clarence- Rockland and other municipalities along its shores. Now the mayor of Clarence- Rockland is calling on the federal emer- gency preparedness minister to assess the river and its tributaries considering future risks from climate change and development along the river banks. Mayor Mario Zanth put forward a motion, seconded by Councillor Kyle Cyr, reques- UJOH UIBU GFEFSBM .JOJTUFS PG &NFSHFODZ
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