The Quebec authorities’s up to date report on flood plains alongside the Ottawa River revealed that my residence lies squarely in a flood zone. This information brings a cascade of issues: dwindling property values, potential points with insurance coverage, and the rising chance that future patrons would possibly wrestle to safe mortgages. However what hit me hardest wasn’t simply the private affect — it was understanding why the flooding has worsened.
Wetlands: A Vanishing Line of Protection
Talking with longtime neighbors, I realized that flooding right here has been attributed to varied causes: dam mismanagement, heavy spring rains, snowmelt, and local weather change. Nevertheless, the Ottawa Riverkeeper group has pointed to a root trigger that’s been neglected far too lengthy: the destruction of wetlands throughout the Ottawa River watershed.
Wetlands are nature’s flood safeguards. They take up extra water, gradual its circulation, and scale back the severity of flooding. But in Ontario, these pure protectors are vanishing. Take the Goulbourn Wetland Complicated in Stittsville, Ontario, for instance. As soon as a delegated Provincially Vital Wetland (PSW), its protections have been dismantled, leaving it and different wetlands weak to growth.
A Grim Coverage Panorama
From March 2023 to March 2024 alone, Ontario noticed 156 hectares of wetlands stripped of their PSW designation, together with 55 hectares within the Goulbourn Wetland Complicated. By July 2024, that quantity swelled to 600 hectares. Why? The Ontario authorities’s introduction of Invoice 23, Extra Properties Constructed Quicker Act, 2022, and the overhaul of the Ontario Wetland Analysis System (OWES).
The up to date OWES system now not acknowledges complexes of smaller wetlands, reduces the significance of species in danger, and removes oversight from the Ministry of Pure Assets and Forestry. These adjustments have weakened protections and enabled large-scale wetland loss, regardless of the federal government’s personal acknowledgment of wetlands’ important position in combating floods, cleansing water, and internet hosting at-risk species.
Map of the circulation of water that can focus immediately in my neighbourhood.
Introduced flood zone for a lot of residents, together with me.
Why Wetlands Matter
Wetlands cowl simply 6% of the Earth’s floor however assist 40% of its biodiversity. Canada alone holds 25% of the world’s remaining wetlands, but we’ve misplaced 20 million hectares—almost one-seventh of our wetland base — since 1800. The monetary worth of wetlands is immense: they supply flood management, water purification, and biodiversity assist value billions yearly. Regardless of this, over two-thirds of wetlands in southern Ontario have disappeared.
The destruction of those ecosystems isn’t simply an environmental loss — it’s a societal and financial one.
Help Wetlands Now!
Native teams like Pals of Stittsville Wetlands are preventing to avoid wasting what stays of the Goulbourn Wetland Complicated, a vital step towards turning the tide. Supporting organizations that advocate for stronger protections, and pushing for coverage change are all methods we are able to make a distinction. Nature has geared up us with the instruments to combat local weather challenges — wetlands are certainly one of them. It’s as much as us to acknowledge their worth earlier than it’s too late.
Click on right here to ship a letter to the Prime Minister and inform him to guard nature earlier than it’s too late!
