Toronto sewer construction project aimed at cutting risk of basement flooding

Thesatr.com
June 11, 2019
Francine Kopun

The federal government and the City of Toronto announced Monday they will spend $207 million to protect homes from flooding in the GTA, making it the single largest basement flooding project the city has ever undertaken.

Construction of the Fairbank-Silverthorn Trunk Storm Sewer System Project will see new storm sewers built in the Fairbank-Silverthorn area, northwest of downtown, to reduce the risk of basement flooding by relieving pressure on the existing combined sewer system during extreme weather events.

“It is necessary for us to do these kinds of things in light of climate change,” said Mayor John Tory.

The improvements will protect 11,600 people living in 4,300 homes and include 13.6 kilometres of new storm tunnels and storm sewers. The improvements will slow down the rate at which water can enter the sewer system so that it won’t be overwhelmed in a storm. And the two streams of waste -- water and sewage -- will be separated.

“There is no excuse for us to continue discharging sewage into Lake Ontario,” said Tory.

The project runs through four wards: York South--Weston, Davenport, Toronto--St. Paul’s and Eglinton-Lawrence, in the area roughly between Weston Rd. in the west and Vaughan Rd. in the east, mostly north of Rogers Rd.

The federal government is investing $73.2 million in the project through its Disaster and Mitigation and Adaptation Fund. The City of Toronto is contributing $133.49 million. According to the city, construction of the storm sewers will start in 2022 and be completed by the end of 2026.

This was the second announcement about flood protections for Toronto in as many weeks.

Last week, Toronto’s chief resilience officer, Elliott Cappell, announced his first climate adaptation strategy. It includes the Flood Resilient Toronto Charter, which was signed by 16 agencies and city divisions, like Toronto Water, the TTC, Metrolinx, and the University of Toronto. They have been meeting the last year to discuss ways of co-operating on flood protection projects. The Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks was also at the meetings but did not sign the charter.

A map showing the city's Fairbank-Silverthorn sewer project.

Provincial officials didn’t participate in the news conference Monday, but Tory expressed confidence that they will find a way to participate on projects moving forward.

“They’re a government that talks a lot, and I think in a very committed way about the need to create jobs and keep the economy healthy, well this has a lot to do with that,” Tory said. “This is about keeping Toronto strong and making sure that we can have the kind of environment here where people can invest and create jobs and I think if they wanted to do it for that reason, that would be fine with me, because what we have to do is prepare the city for the different kind of events that we are seeing more frequently.

“I am looking forward to working with them on a number of different things and we’ll see what unfolds.”

The federal government’s Disaster and Mitigation and Adaptation Fund is a $2 billion, 10-year program to help communities build the infrastructure they need to better withstand natural hazards, such as floods, wildfires, earthquakes and droughts.