High water hitting city pocketbook

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

The excessive amount of rain and high water levels are starting to erode away more than just the shoreline of Lake Ontario, as the city’s operating funds are starting to slip.

A preliminary report from city staff states that, to date, $12,000 has already been paid out in resources and extra staff time to deal with the heavy rains and flooding around Oshawa. However, that number could skyrocket when the water begins to recede and the true scope of the damage comes to light.

According to numbers from the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA) in May, the Oshawa area received about 200 per cent more than the normal amount of rain for that month. The heavy rains and frequent southern winds have also pushed the Lake Ontario water levels to the highest they’ve been in recorded history.

The high water levels have caused massive erosion along the Lakeview Park beach shoreline and have also caused considerable damage to the pier by eating away at its foundation.

“The force of the waves and the turbulent water washed away the foundation below the interlock paving stones creating large cavities and voids on the walkways to the pier,” a city report states. “It is feared that this action is taking place through openings and cracks in the concrete breakwall below the waterline.”

The full extent of the damage will not be known until the water levels recede, but city staff estimate that costs to repair the pier could be as high as $225,000. The high water levels have also caused damage to fencing along the Lakeview Park beach, which could cost as much as $65,000 to repair and the erosion to the beach will require additional sand and re-grading at a cost of approximately $30,000.

And while staff have been pulled from other duties in order to respond to the flooding issues, Ron Diskey, the commissioner of community services, says they’ve mostly been able to keep up with all the tasks at hand.

“Overall, I think staff have been able to keep up with their workload,” he says. “Some overtime has been incurred because of these issues.”

Moving forward, Diskey says city staff will be looking to find ways to be better prepared for such storm events.

“We will be working with our peers in finance to look at strategies and opportunities to ensure we are better prepared for this in the future,” he says.

Currently, no timeline has been prepared for the work that is needed as the city needs to wait for the water levels to recede, a process that could take months.

To date, the needed funds have been allocated to the current operating budget of Operations Services. However, the city report does not indicate where any future dollars would be taken from, noting that “a further report to council will be made once staff have established a more accurate understanding of cost and scope of additional work.”