The finishing touches are being put on a Stormwater Master Plan for Tilbury to improve storm and drain systems, in an effort to ease flooding concerns.
Work on the plan started last year.
Chatham-Kent director of engineering and transportation Chris Thibert said the master plan for Tilbury should be ready for public consultations soon, adding that another plan will follow for Ridgetown.
"These Stormwater Master Plans are allowing us to identify all of the areas of need for improvements for storm infrastructure; it could be new capital works that are required or what's required for our lifecycle for our existing storm sewers that need to be upgraded to accommodate these more severe and reoccurring storm events," he said.
Thibert said stormwater infrastructure is one of the "more underfunded lifecycle reserves," something council is aware of.
The need to address the funding shortfalls may be emphasized in future budget deliberations as weather conditions become more unpredictable.
Some Chatham-Kent residents are still dealing with the cleanup after a storm hit southwestern Ontario earlier this month and flooded several basements. However, since the waste contractor for Chatham-Kent cannot accommodate the extra volume with its current fleet, residents are left with only a few options.
As stated in a municipal media release, residents affected by basement flooding can choose to:
- Gradually get rid of the excess waste during their weekly garbage pick-up over several weeks.
- Take excess waste to the Ridge Landfill. The municipality would not be involved in this but residents are encouraged to call the Landfill in advance.
- Take excess waste to the Harwich or Wallaceburg Transfer Stations and only be charged the minimum fee of $20 for the first load. Multiple loads may be accepted for free depending on the amount of waste. However, residents would first need to contact the municipality at ckinfo@chatham-kent.ca or 519-360-1998 to explain the situation and provide proof of address.
Thibert said there are some things residents can do to help mitigate basement flooding after a significant weather event. Those best practices can be found on the Municipality's website.
"Any pressure that we can take off of our storm sewers will ultimately help the entire system," he said.
However, there's only so much that can be done in terms of design to accommodate for major storms. Thibert said designs made for new subdivisions and developments are for a five-year storm limit, whereas many storm systems in Chatham-Kent can only accommodate a one or two-year storm limit.
"These storm events that we're seeing -- especially recently with these heavy ones -- there's no storm system anywhere in Ontario that can accommodate these types of storms," he said. "They are unfortunately well-above the five-year storm limit where we really do rely on everyone's involvement and everyone's best practices to work together to try and get the water away from people's houses, onto the road, and ultimately back into the outlet where they belong."
In the meantime, Thibert said the Tilbury master plan should be finished within the next couple of months. At which time it will be available on the Municipality's website.
"We're making sure that it's accessible-friendly so that residents will be able to view it and see ultimately what the final recommendations are that will be put forward to council," he said. "The Ridgetown one, however, we just started that process."
Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, Thibert said the public consultation process (dates have yet to be announced) will likely be held virtually.