Cars stuck on the flooded Don Valley Parkway in Toronto after torrential rain caused the Don River to overflow at the Dundas Street bridge on July 16.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
Toronto City Council has passed Mayor Olivia Chow’s motion that called for finding ways to manage flooding in the city, including a potential charge on businesses to limit stormwater runoff.
At a council meeting Thursday, the mayor asked for a review of current and former flood mitigation programs to be completed by the end of the year and urged the city to get flooding under control – even if it means charging businesses more.
A record-setting rainstorm last week submerged highways, flooded basements and transit stations, and knocked out power to large parts of Toronto. But the idea of imposing a charge to encourage commercial property owners to improve stormwater drainage predates the recent flooding.
“We have to act to mitigate the impact of stormwater,” said Ms. Chow in a press conference before the council meeting. “It’s important to start with the big commercial sector. … If you do nothing and your parking lot becomes a parking lake then you should take some responsibility.”
Ms. Chow said the majority of stormwater comes from the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors, and that members of this sector had a bigger role to play in helping get the city’s flooding problems under control.
The mayor was quick to respond to long-time criticism that she was levying a “rain tax.”
“Whatever you want to call it, we do have a lot of rain,” she said. “We need to deal with floods and if we do nothing that’s irresponsible.”
Stormwater charges already exist in some Canadian cities, including Mississauga, where the fee is designed to fund maintenance and repair of stormwater systems. Properties with a greater amount of paved or hard surface pay more as they contribute more runoff into the system.
Ms. Chow said she was not focusing on charging homeowners to mitigate stormwater runoff and instead wanted to explore incentive schemes for homeowners to invest in more permeable yards or sump pumps to remove water from basements.
“Some of them can’t afford to do these kind of things. ... Some may not know,” she said. “My motion is looking to support homeowners, looking for incentives.”
Officials call for action to build Toronto’s flood resiliency after massive storm
At the news conference, the mayor also noted that the city is spending $4.3-billion over the next 10 years on water management as part of the Wet Weather Flow Master Plan. The four-part scheme includes investments to eliminate sewer overflow and basement flooding as well as improve water quality.
While debating Ms. Chow’s motion in council, some members noted the disproportionate effects of flooding across different parts of Toronto.
Speaking on last week’s flood, which was caused by more than 100 millimetres of rain that fell in just a few hours, Don Valley North Councillor Shelley Carroll said many of the homes in her ward were flooded with sewage. She said damage to her own home is expected to cost $20,000.
“Life went on in other parts of the city,” she said. “If you weren’t from that part of the city you didn’t care.”
Councillor Stephen Holyday, meanwhile, asked the city to accelerate the Basement Flooding Protection Program, a multiyear initiative that looks to improve the city’s sewer system and overland drainage routes.
“Flooding is different in different parts of the city,” he said. “As tragic as flooding is, there’s a lot of money behind this; who gets what matters.”
Lanes on both the Don Valley Parkway and Lakeshore Boulevard were briefly flooded again Wednesday afternoon but were passable again shortly after, once water levels subsided.