M E M O / N O T E D E S E R V I C E
To / Destinataire	Chair and Members of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee / Président et membres du Comité de l’agriculture et des questions rurales	File/N° de fichier: ACS2009-ICS-WWS-0017-IPD
From / Expéditeur	Dixon Weir, General Manager / Directeur général, Environmental Services / Services environnementaux, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability / Services d’infrastructure et viabilité des collectivités	Contact Person / Personne ressource: Dave Ryan, Project Manager / Gestionnaire, Municipal Drainage / des installations de drainage, Environmental Services Department / Services environnementaux 613-580-2424 x 25106 Dave.Ryan@ottawa.ca
Subject / Objet	Municipal Drainage Program Update / Mise à jour de l'état de drainage municipal	Date: 12 May 2009 / Le 12 mai 2009

The provision and maintenance of works under the Drainage Act such as municipal drains is an important service drawing considerable City involvement and attention. This memo will provide a general overview of the Municipal Drainage program and the status of various municipal drain petitions and improvement projects that are currently in the midst of an approval process. In accordance with the reporting process to the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, the former Water and Wastewater Services Branch previously made a report on the status of municipal drains at the November 27, 2008 Committee meeting (ACS2008-PWS-WWS-0026-IPD).

Background

The City of Ottawa has the largest rural area of any major municipality in Canada, and this rural area contains the largest number of open municipal drains in Ontario, with over 700 municipal drains, totalling more than 1,200 kilometres in length. These drains are considered municipal infrastructure and perform a very valuable function in support of the City’s rural lands and roads and agricultural business sector in terms of drainage and stormwater management. The Ontario Drainage Act, and its precursors that govern the creation and maintenance of Municipal Drains, are some of the oldest and most effective legislation in the Province. The Drainage Act has been updated several times to reflect new environmental regulations and associated requirements.

The City of Ottawa has a legislative responsibility for all aspects of drainage works constructed under the Drainage Act, including the repair and maintenance of existing municipal drains and the construction of new drains.

Municipal Drain Maintenance

Municipal drains are drainage systems consisting mainly of engineered open ditches that provide outlet for stormwater from agricultural lands, farm tile drainage, subdivisions and municipal roads. They have legal status and are located mostly on private property with working areas provided to permit access for maintenance. Section 74 of the Drainage Act provides that “any drainage works constructed under a by-law shall be maintained by each local municipality”. Each drain has a separate by-law that outlines the maintenance requirements and the assessment schedule to use in the assessing of maintenance costs.

The Drainage Act provides for grants from the Province of Ontario to pay for a portion of the landowner cost of municipal drain maintenance as well as for the Drainage Superintendent’s costs. In 2008, the City maintained approximately 123,000 feet (40 kilometres) of municipal drains. Costs associated with this maintenance will be recovered through a combination of provincial grants and assessments to benefiting landowners. For 2009, the City of Ottawa has, to date, received requests for maintenance on 22 municipal drains, and has submitted a grant allotment request to the province, to provide for a one-third grant on assessments to agricultural lands affected by maintenance. The remaining two-thirds of the maintenance costs are recovered through assessments to benefiting landowners.

The following is a list of those municipal drains that are scheduled for maintenance in 2009 and for which grant money from the province is anticipated. Maintenance will also be conducted on a localized basis (beaver dams, culverts) on other municipal drains in response to inspections and landowner requests.

Albert Marshall Municipal Drain

Bella Vista Municipal Drain

Christie Dashney Municipal Drain

Crawford-Hill Municipal Drain

Cummings Municipal Drain

D'aoust Municipal Drain

David Cleroux Municipal Drain

Dowdall Municipal Drain - Branch #2

Eric Deavy Municipal Drain

Hobbs Municipal Drain, Branch 11

Kizell Municipal Drain

Lalande-Cleroux Municipal Drain

Leamy Creek Municipal Drain - Smits Branch

McCormick Municipal Drain

Monahan Municipal Drain - Kenny Branch

Mud Creek Municipal Drain - Baxter and McEwen Branches

Mutual Agreement Drain in Osgoode Ward

Schwerdfager Municipal Drain

Smith Municipal Drain

Smith-Gooding Municipal Drain

South Castor River Municipal Drain

Spikker Municipal Drain

Once the province has approved the budget, usually in June or July, and approvals are obtained by the various regulatory agencies, maintenance typically proceeds in the late summer and fall, after the crops have been harvested.

Provincial grants under the Provincial Municipal Drainage Outlet program are also applied for annually and cover up to 50 percent of the annual Drainage Superintendent costs incurred by the City of Ottawa, including salaries, benefits, vehicles and supplies.

Discussion

Municipal drains make an important contribution to the rural environment beyond simply drainage. Municipal drains play a vital role in the provision of flood control and general support to the natural environment. In particular, they may provide a spawning ground for fish. With the recognition of the importance and contribution of municipal drains, it is also recognized that all watercourses are governed by several other Federal and Provincial Acts, such as:

• The Provincial Conservation Authorities Act, Endangered Species Act, Public Lands Act, Lakes and Rivers Improvement Act, the Ontario Water Resources Act, the Environmental Protection Act, and
• The Federal Fisheries Act and the Navigable Waters Act.

As a result of the myriad of legislative imperatives, a more complex assessment and approval process has been created for the construction, improvement and maintenance of municipal drains. Adding to the complexity of the drains management is the fact that under certain situations and conditions, the various regulatory requirements do not align, and may on occasion reflect competing interests. This situation is not unique to Ottawa, but is a condition that exists across the province. In recognition of the competing regulatory interests a number of task forces and committees have been struck in the past six months, involving the participation of:

· Conservation Ontario,

· Various Conservation Authorities,

· Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA),

· Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources

· Drainage Superintendents Association of Ontario (DSAO),

· Professional Engineers of Ontario - Land Drainage Committee, and the

· Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).

The provincial groups have established a Drainage Action Review Team (DART) and at the federal level a Drainage Action Working Group (DAWG) has been struck for the purpose of gaining a greater understanding of the competing legislation and for the development of some communication tools that provide clearer direction for all of the parties concerned. Neither of the DART or DAWG has made significant headway.

Local Action

City staff and the Council-appointed Drainage Engineers have worked with Conservation Authorities and the relevant provincial and federal agencies, with the goal of understanding the competing priorities to more effectively manage the Drainage Act approval process, and to keep the requested drainage works moving forward.

Significant progress has been made on several of the new drainage works projects in providing the regulatory agencies with the required environmental and fish habitat impact assessment and mitigation studies, revised engineering designs, and construction and post-construction monitoring programs. While these efforts are beginning to show progress, it is clear that previous approval processes and timelines will not be adequate to deal with these broader requirements.

Municipal Drain Project Status Update

Please find attached a summary table entitled, “Drainage Act Capital Project Summary”. This table lists all of the current municipal drain construction and improvement projects, the Conservation Authority within which the drain exists, a high level description of the expected scope of work, the status and timing schedule for future activity, including approvals and construction.

Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dave Ryan, Drainage Superintendent, at extension 25106.

Original Signed By

D. Weir, P.Eng.

Attachments: Drainage Act Capital Project Summary

Attachment 1 City of Ottawa Drainage Act Capital Project Summary
Project Name	Ward	Council Approval	Conservation Authority	Drainage Act Authority	Project Summary	Status/CA Requirements/Engineering Reviews	Anticipated Approval and Construction Timing/Schedule[1]
1. Paden Road Report	Rideau	Oct 2005	RVCA	Section 4 (new report to give status to and improve an existing award drain)	Petition for Drainage Works by Surface Operations (Road Superintendent) due to historic flooding of road during spring and ongoing high maintenance costs. Existing award drain. Wetlands present, not in Official Plan.	RVCA Permit issued.	RFQ process underway. Construction expected to begin in July 2009.
2. Arbuckle Report	Goulbourn	Oct 2005 (Extension granted to Engineer under Section 39(1) of the Drainage Act until December 31, 2009)	RVCA	Section 4 (new report to give status to existing award drain)	Landowners have petitioned for status under the Drainage Act for an existing award drain to ensure legal and sufficient outlet and future maintenance.	Fish and Fish Habitat Assessment Report with Impact Analysis of designs and habitat mapping completed and the Draft Engineer’s Report and Draft Fisheries Report submitted to RVCA in Oct 2008. RVCA Application submitted on October 17, 2008.	CA Review - Permit expected in Q2 of 2009. Drainage Act approval process Q3 of 2009. Construction anticipated to begin in Q4 of 2009^*.
3. Dowdall/ Morold Municipal Drain Report	Goulbourn	March 2005 (Extension granted to Engineer under Section 39(1) of the Drainage Act until June 30, 2009)	RVCA	Section 78 (revise existing report to reflect changes and improvements to the drain)	Purpose is to update the report to reflect changes to an existing drain made by the former Township of Goulbourn and DND in the 1990’s and for minor improvements requested by landowners.	RVCA Permit received December 22, 2008 with conditions increasing the cost of drainage works, including engineering costs. Comments, concerns and suggestions provided to RVCA, and the revised permit has been issued.	Engineer’s report to ARAC in late May, 2009. Construction is anticipated to begin in Q4 of 2009.
4. David Adams Report	Rideau	April 2005 (Extension granted to Engineer under Section 39(1) of the Drainage Act until June 30, 2009)	RVCA	Section 4 (new report to give status to existing award drain)	Landowners have petitioned for status under the Drainage Act for an existing award drain. Petition was prompted by long-standing man-made blockage at bottom end of agricultural award drain impeding flows and flooding upstream lands.	RVCA has referred the project to Fisheries & Oceans Canada for federal review as proposed works exceed RVCA’s delegated authority. City to coordinate meeting with Drainage Engineer and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
5. Upper Flowing Creek Report	Goulbourn	July 2006 (Extension granted to Engineer under Section 39(1) of the Drainage Act until June 30, 2009)	RVCA	Section 4 (new report to give status to an existing watercourse)	Landowners have petitioned for drainage works in response to ongoing drainage concerns, lack of outlet in Flowing Creek, disputed wetland designations and extensive beaver activity.	In late November 2008 RVCA requested a comprehensive Construction Monitoring and Post-effectiveness Monitoring program be prepared for their review. A consultant was hired and a draft program has been submitted for review to the RVCA. Estimated cost of this program is $130K. Discussions with DFO being undertaken to review the scope of the construction and Post-effectiveness Monitoring program.	RVCA/DFO permits expected in Q2 of 2009. Drainage Act approval process in Q3 of 2009. Tendering and Construction to begin in Q4 2009 and continue into 2010.
6. Upper Dowdall MD (Ashton Station Road)	Goulbourn Beckwith	June 2008 (Extension granted to Engineer under Section 39(1) of the Drainage Act until December 31, 2009)	RVCA	Section 4 (petition to extend existing drain)	Petition for Drainage Works by Beckwith Township and the City of Ottawa Surface Operations (Road Superintendent) due to historic flooding of Ashton Station Road during spring and ongoing high maintenance costs. Public access and safety issue.	- Preliminary Engineer’s Report is underway. - Preliminary survey and base plan were completed in August 2008. - Discussions with the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority held in September 2008 to discuss initial approach and again on November 25, 2008. - RVCA comments received Jan. 24, 2009 - Fish Habitat Assessment to be undertaken in April/May 2009	Preliminary Engineer’s Report to ARAC/Council – Q2/Q3 of 2009 (meeting to consider the preliminary report).
7. Upper Karl MD (Ashton Station Road)	Goulbourn Beckwith	June 2008 (Extension granted to Engineer under Section 39(1) of the Drainage Act until December 31, 2009)	RVCA	Section 4 (petition to extend existing drain)	Petition for Drainage Works by Beckwith Township and the City of Ottawa Surface Operations (Road Superintendent) due to historic flooding of Ashton Station Road during spring and ongoing high maintenance costs. Public access and safety issue.	- Preliminary Engineer’s Report is underway. - Preliminary survey and base plan were completed in August 2008. - Discussions with the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority held in September 2008 to discuss initial approach and again on November 25, 2008. - RVCA comments received Jan. 24, 2009. - Fish Habitat Assessment to be undertaken in April/May 2009.	Council approval to proceed with preliminary Engineer's Report - June 25, 2008. Preliminary Engineer’s Report to ARAC/Council - Q2/Q3 of 2009 (meeting to consider the preliminary report).
8. Hazeldean Road	Goulbourn	May 2008 (Extension granted to Engineer under Section 39(1) of the Drainage Act until December 31, 2009)	MVCA	Section 4	Petition for Drainage Works by several landowners in response to ongoing drainage concerns, lack of outlet, wetland designations and road safety.	Petition for Engineer's Report received. Discussions with the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority held in March 2008 due to presence of wetlands. - On-Site meeting held with landowners on August 13, 2008. - Engineer completed and submitted draft preliminary Engineer’s Report in April 2009 and met with MVCA on April 23, 2009. MVCA has indicated support for the preferred design alternative.	Council approval to proceed with preliminary Engineer's Report - May 28, 2008. Draft Report submitted – Q2 of 2009. Letter of support from MVCA expected in May 2009. ARAC/Council – Q2/Q3 of 2009(meeting to consider the preliminary report).

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[1] Based on the estimated regulatory agency review period, and subject to appeals under the Drainage Act.