January 05, 2018

Heritage and safety key elements in Erin pond debate

An effort to recognize Erin’s eight major ponds as sites of heritage interest is a new twist in the ongoing debate over dam safety, the cost of maintenance and the impact of allowing the West Credit River to return to a meandering stream.
Only two of the dams for those ponds are publicly owned. A question mark still hangs over the Hillsburgh millpond, now jointly owned by the county and the town. An environmental assessment recommending its preservation has been appealed to the Minister of the Environment, but no decision has been announced.
More attention is turning to Hull’s Dam, which creates the upper pond near Church Boulevard in Erin village. Its concrete has been crumbling for decades, and now Credit Valley Conservation is urging the town to order an engineering assessment.
If the hazard potential is high, there could be a Dam Safety Review (DSR). The initial cost could be from $50,000 to $150,000, possibly offset by government funding. A DSR could lead to major upgrades, with a plan for inspection, maintenance and emergency response.
West Credit River and Lower Pond,
south of Hull's Dam 
Or the town could decide to decommission the dam, which would require yet another environmental assessment. CVC generally favours decommissioning since it improves fish habitat and reduces flood risk, but it also can remove a cultural landmark and drastically alter the local eco-system.
John Sinnige, Senior Manager, Water Resources and Flood Risk, at Credit Valley Conservation (CVC), told council last month that the town has an obligation of “due diligence” for the dams it owns.
“This means safe operation, maintenance and monitoring,” he said. “The Church Street [Hull’s] and Charles Street dams are probably some of the biggest concerns right now. If the Town of Erin is concerned about a privately-owned dam, they should contact the MNRF (Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry).”
Ainsworth Pond, south of Station Street.
Public and private owners are liable if a dam failure causes damage. Sinnige said CVC tries to warn owners in the watershed of the risks and to offer advice.
“There are some of the major dam owners who, believe it or not, don’t like the CVC and just don’t want to deal with us at all. They just say, ‘Keep out of my business’, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
The MNRF has primary responsibility for dam safety, but do not get involved unless there is a serious problem. Normally, neither the MNRF nor CVC can force a dam owner to upgrade to modern standards.
Hillsburgh Millpond at dusk
Erin’s Heritage Committee recently passed a motion urging council to list all the major ponds on its Heritage Registry, a list normally used for older buildings. This comes after the privately-owned Rudd pond south of Hillsburgh was decommissioned, with no requirement to notify council or the public.
“We should ask the County of Wellington planning staff to provide us with a report on what the options are and the implications,” said Coun. Jeff Duncan at the December council meeting.
“The West Branch of the Credit River probably has one of the highest concentrations of existing and historic mill ponds, in the five kilometres from Erin to Hillsburgh.”
In addition to Station Street and Hull’s Dam, there are dams for the Ainsworth Pond, Thomson Lake (Olesovsky) and Roman Lake (an off-line pond with two dams) south of Hillsburgh. In Erin village there are private dams for two off-line ponds in Stanley Park, plus the privately-owned Charles Street dam, which creates the lower pond near the downtown core.
Adding a building (or pond) to the Heritage Registry does not stop an owner from getting rid of it, but it would require a 60-day public notice period. During that time, the town could investigate options for preservation and could take the unusual action of a Heritage Designation, which would prohibit demolition.
Duncan said the Heritage Committee has a mandate to deal not only with buildings but landscape features of cultural interest. He said heritage is studied when removal of a public pond is considered, and that there should be a process that recognizes both the heritage aspect of a private pond and the effect on other landowners.
Mayor Al Alls said the town had a complaint about fish being killed by the release of silt, and the town didn’t even know it was happening. “There’s got to be a better process,” he said. CVC CAO Deborah Martin-Downs agreed that better communication would help “make the air clearer”.
Alls also said he “kind of supports” the request to put ponds on the Heritage Registry. “I just worry that we are trampling on private rights,” he said. Council made no decision on listing the ponds, but did agree to request a county report.
The CVC presentation to council came after Coun. Matt Sammut previously raised the question of what the Town of Erin could do to reduce the risk of a dam failure, which would endanger life and damage property.
Hillsburgh Millpond after sunset
Sinnige said Erin has nine major dams and 118 minor ones, based on a survey done in 2005. He said that in 2011, after a section of roadway over the Station Street dam became unstable, CVC did a confidential, preliminary study of what could happen if the dam collapsed.
“There was a possibility that all ponds in Hillsburgh and Erin could be breached due to a cascading effect,” he said. “There was limited information available to conduct calculations. Assumptions were made due to timeline and property access issues.”
That report was never made public, but it did reinforce the MNRF’s demands that Erin come up with a solution for Station Street.
“We don’t like to make it public because of the assumptions and limitations of the study,” he said. “We don’t want it to be interpreted incorrectly.”
Emergency work was done at Station Street to stabilize the dam. The CVC report went to the county, and in 2015, Community Emergency Management Coordinator Linda Dickson finally made a public report to Erin council.
The county review estimated that a Station Street failure would break down the Hillsburgh dams, but only overflow the Erin village dams. Sections of Trafalgar Road and Eighth Line, along with residential lots in Stanley Park, downtown business properties next to the pond and areas downstream of Charles Street, would be under several feet of water.

That report does not put a dollar value on potential damage, but says such an event would be rated as a one-in-50 year flood, slightly less than the current flood lines on Town planning documents.