Constance Bay residents try to plan for future after latest floods
Lack of answers making it hard for some to decide what to do next
Constance Bay residents are still looking for answers on the implications of the 2019 floods and the province may soon be stepping with an independent review.
The rural west Ottawa community saw record-breaking high water levels in May, topping marks set just two years earlier.
The Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority offered advice at a Tuesday night meeting on when property owners should consider raising their homes, relocation or other measures.
Louis Nel lives on Armitage Road near the shore of Constance Bay and had several questions about what he should do and whether there was a point to it anyway.
"In 2017, we thought this was a rare occurrence and you just sort of grin and bear it," he said.
"We don't want this to be a regular occurrence. We had five or six thousand sandbags and the army came in for two or three days. You don't mind if it's once in a lifetime, but not if it's every other year."
- Hundreds of Constance Bay residents told to leave their homes
- Constance Bay's flood cleanup has been long, tiring and itchy
Manon Lalonde, executive engineer with the Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board (ORRPB), said while a flood every two years is not the norm, there are few guarantees.
"Because we never know what Mother Nature will bring us next year, based on the probabilities on any given year … There's always a one per cent chance of having one such big event," Lalonde said.
Lalonde said more than 60 per cent of the watershed in the Ottawa River has no reservoir or dam to even attempt to control it.
She said the ORRPB would welcome an independent review of flood management, though it would not be up to the board to call for one since it reports to the federal, Ontario and Quebec governments.
Minister wants review
Ontario's Minister of Long-Term Care Merrilee Fullerton said she had hoped the province would have already announced its review before the meeting.
"When we look at the dynamics of water, it's complicated and there's many parts of this," she said.
"I think the concept of an independent review or special appointed reviewer of some kind is a good idea and I've been pushing for that.".
Fullerton, the PC MPP for Kanata-Carleton, said the scope of that review is still under discussion, but should include the protection of property and personal safety and how all levels of government respond to natural disasters.
The issue of buyouts in Constance Bay has also come up.
Fullerton said she's wary of the unintended consequences that may come with that idea, which is government policy in Quebec.
Fullerton said Ottawa has not reached the $46-million damage threshold required to receive federal disaster relief funding.