A sweeping plan to overhaul Windsor's sewer system is flowing along.
During a meeting Monday night, Windsor City Council received and approved the first quarterly update into the implementation of the city's eight-point master plan, designed to find solutions to occurrences of flooding in the city. The project also takes into account water quality and the effects of climate change.
One of the key components of the first update is a new public engagement strategy.
Mayor Drew Dilkens says the public's input is vital to getting the master plan off the ground.
"Council is on track, we're implementing the eight-point plan, and we've started the website," says Dilkens. "We want the public's feedback. There's a whole process here that includes public feedback."
The website, www.weatheringthestorm.ca, is a comprehensive, interactive tool designed to provide the public with the basics of sewer functions, efforts to identify where the city's most prominent flooding problems tend to occur and focus resources there, and allow for public input. This will culminate in a public meeting the city is planning for June.
"This is a big initiative, and you can imagine that with the magnitude of our sewer system and the magnitude of the recommendations that are likely to flow from the sewer master plan, this is going to take the entire community's effort," says Dilkens.
Windsor-Essex has been hit with a so-called "hundred-year storm" twice in the past year and a half. East Windsor and Tecumseh were hit hard with flooding in a September 2016 deluge, and Windsor experienced the worst flooding in its history in August of last year.
The two rainstorms have raised questions from residents about the city's ability to handle that amount of water, though the city insists that the sewer system functioned adequately both times and it was merely too much water at once for the system to handle.
Windsor is already working with the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) to identify areas of flood vulnerability. The city has also expanded the baseline of the sanitary, storm and sewer networks.
A series of flow monitors will be installed by the city at select locations. These are expected to be operational next month.
