爬山去：渥太华周边最棒的8条hiking trail

[小地主]

所以hiking就家门口了。

对呀，今年不阿纲困了，就pond边上安营扎寨camping了

 

[uglyducking]

Carp River Restoration begins after years of study
Fewer fish habitats, trails more prone to flooding planned after 2010 audit

Carp River plans
Submitted
A map shows the plans for the Carp River Restoration project from Richardson Side Road to Hazeldean road after years of study and review, which has resulted in the cost of the project three times what was originally estimated.

Kanata Kourier-Standard
By Adam Kveton

Work on the Carp River is now underway some 10 years since the city first approved it, and six years after a major revision found a technical error in the original study.

The plan, which intends to mitigate flood concerns, provide trails for residents, a better habitat for wildlife and provide land for development, is going ahead with a cost of more than three times its original estimate, said Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson, in whose ward part of the work will take place.

The city will bear more than 30 per cent of the estimated $17.9 million cost of the project, while the rest will be paid for by landowners/developers in the Kanata west area.

For their money, residents will get a trail system and an improved wildlife area to enjoy, said Wilkinson. However, the trail system will be more prone to flooding than in the original plan, there will be fewer fish habitats and less vegetation planted.

These changes were made to save money and to deal with soil problems and flood mitigation considerations.

“I’m satisfied with it,” said Wilkinson of the project, which has been OK’d by the city, the Ministry of the Environment and the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority.

“Everything has been assessed thoroughly and everyone is satisfied with the design as it stands now,” said John Price, director of water resource engineering with the conservation authority.

The first phase of the work (from Richardson Side Road to Highway 417) is expected to be completed this year, with phases two and three expected to be done by 2018.

DEVELOPMENT AND RESTORATION

In 2002 the city expanded the urban boundary to include the area between Stittsville and Kanata, as well as north of Stittsville.

The plan was to develop 1 million square metres of commercial space creating 24,000 jobs, and 6,300 households for 17,000 people, reads the city’s and the Kanata West Owners Group’s implementation plan for Kanata West development.

But the Carp River, was already in bad shape and prone to flooding.

“It’s a straight channel,” said Price of the river. “It’s been manipulated over the years, probably decades ago now, at the time when it was agricultural areas and crops.”

The slow-moving river was filling itself with sediment it couldn’t move on its own, and was disconnected from an available flood plain, which could cause major flooding issues downstream. It was also a poor wildlife habitat, said Price.

So, before land around the river could be zoned for development, the river had to be reworked.

Now split up into several phases, that “restoration” included turning the straight channel into a winding river with more capacity to hold water and move sediment, the creation of fish habitat pools and wet meadows, planting vegetation and moving floodplains while elevating former flood plains, making them available for development.

Trails were also planned, as well as a pair of pedestrian bridges.

The city would pay for 30 per cent of the cost – originally $1.5 million of the $5 million total.

The group of developers, referred to as the Kanata West Owners Group and includes companies like Mattamy, Minto and Richcraft, would pay the rest. The city is also a member of the owners group as it owns land in the area originally slated for the Senators arena, said Wilkinson, and thus will pay a portion of the owners group costs.

DELAY

In 2010, an audit was undertaken after the Ministry of the Environment found technical errors with the computer model used to calculate the height of water during storm events.

The model, used for decades throughout North America, had failed to read some of the water volume information fed into it said Price.

“That was obviously a major issue,” he said.

After a third party review, it was found there wasn’t enough flood plain storage and the design had to be changed, said Price.

“That was one of the drivers of some of the changes,” he said, saying that poor soil conditions around the Carp River and mounting costs resulted in others.

Ultimately, the number of fish habitat ponds was reduced to keep costs down, said Price. This loss should not impact the area’s water storage capacity, he said, while the total fish habitat is still being doubled from what was originally there.

The height of the public trails was reduced from 10 year flood levels to two year flood levels, partially to keep the trails from cutting the river off from flood plains, and due to cost concerns.

Having the trails at 10 year flood level heights would mean the vehicle bridge to connect Campeau Drive across the river would have to be raised above that to allow the trails clearance below it.

“Those are very soft soils, and that increases the cost of that bridge enormously,” said Wilkinson.

Also due to the soft soil, the amount of vegetation to be put in was scaled back, said Price, replaced by rock that could more effectively deal with erosion.

Some residents have wondered whether the changes benefited developers while reducing the elements of the project meant for public enjoyment.

Price said that the change in the project actually resulted in less space for development than previously.

“The changes that were made were not made for the developers. They were made more for the city and for the costs,” said Wilkinson.

“(Developers) been waiting a long, long time and waiting costs money for them,” she said.

To get some available development lands outside of the flood plain going as soon as possible, Wilkinson said she is pushing for sections of Campeau to be built before the Carp River project is done.

She said she has also asked Minto to consider building a trail connecting their nearby Arcadia development to the trail system that will be built this year, providing residents with a link to Kanata Centrum.

This will be important to them, as the Campeau Drive bridge will likely not be built until 2018 or 2019, said Wilkinson.

 

[小地主]

我要是老太太，开了kanata west，至少让房产商先出钱再盖个体育馆。。这就是她和jean harder的区别

Carp River Restoration begins after years of study
Fewer fish habitats, trails more prone to flooding planned after 2010 audit

Carp River plans
Submitted
A map shows the plans for the Carp River Restoration project from Richardson Side Road to Hazeldean road after years of study and review, which has resulted in the cost of the project three times what was originally estimated.

Kanata Kourier-Standard
By Adam Kveton

Work on the Carp River is now underway some 10 years since the city first approved it, and six years after a major revision found a technical error in the original study.

The plan, which intends to mitigate flood concerns, provide trails for residents, a better habitat for wildlife and provide land for development, is going ahead with a cost of more than three times its original estimate, said Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson, in whose ward part of the work will take place.

The city will bear more than 30 per cent of the estimated $17.9 million cost of the project, while the rest will be paid for by landowners/developers in the Kanata west area.

For their money, residents will get a trail system and an improved wildlife area to enjoy, said Wilkinson. However, the trail system will be more prone to flooding than in the original plan, there will be fewer fish habitats and less vegetation planted.

These changes were made to save money and to deal with soil problems and flood mitigation considerations.

“I’m satisfied with it,” said Wilkinson of the project, which has been OK’d by the city, the Ministry of the Environment and the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority.

“Everything has been assessed thoroughly and everyone is satisfied with the design as it stands now,” said John Price, director of water resource engineering with the conservation authority.

The first phase of the work (from Richardson Side Road to Highway 417) is expected to be completed this year, with phases two and three expected to be done by 2018.

DEVELOPMENT AND RESTORATION

In 2002 the city expanded the urban boundary to include the area between Stittsville and Kanata, as well as north of Stittsville.

The plan was to develop 1 million square metres of commercial space creating 24,000 jobs, and 6,300 households for 17,000 people, reads the city’s and the Kanata West Owners Group’s implementation plan for Kanata West development.

But the Carp River, was already in bad shape and prone to flooding.

“It’s a straight channel,” said Price of the river. “It’s been manipulated over the years, probably decades ago now, at the time when it was agricultural areas and crops.”

The slow-moving river was filling itself with sediment it couldn’t move on its own, and was disconnected from an available flood plain, which could cause major flooding issues downstream. It was also a poor wildlife habitat, said Price.

So, before land around the river could be zoned for development, the river had to be reworked.

Now split up into several phases, that “restoration” included turning the straight channel into a winding river with more capacity to hold water and move sediment, the creation of fish habitat pools and wet meadows, planting vegetation and moving floodplains while elevating former flood plains, making them available for development.

Trails were also planned, as well as a pair of pedestrian bridges.

The city would pay for 30 per cent of the cost – originally $1.5 million of the $5 million total.

The group of developers, referred to as the Kanata West Owners Group and includes companies like Mattamy, Minto and Richcraft, would pay the rest. The city is also a member of the owners group as it owns land in the area originally slated for the Senators arena, said Wilkinson, and thus will pay a portion of the owners group costs.

DELAY

In 2010, an audit was undertaken after the Ministry of the Environment found technical errors with the computer model used to calculate the height of water during storm events.

The model, used for decades throughout North America, had failed to read some of the water volume information fed into it said Price.

“That was obviously a major issue,” he said.

After a third party review, it was found there wasn’t enough flood plain storage and the design had to be changed, said Price.

“That was one of the drivers of some of the changes,” he said, saying that poor soil conditions around the Carp River and mounting costs resulted in others.

Ultimately, the number of fish habitat ponds was reduced to keep costs down, said Price. This loss should not impact the area’s water storage capacity, he said, while the total fish habitat is still being doubled from what was originally there.

The height of the public trails was reduced from 10 year flood levels to two year flood levels, partially to keep the trails from cutting the river off from flood plains, and due to cost concerns.

Having the trails at 10 year flood level heights would mean the vehicle bridge to connect Campeau Drive across the river would have to be raised above that to allow the trails clearance below it.

“Those are very soft soils, and that increases the cost of that bridge enormously,” said Wilkinson.

Also due to the soft soil, the amount of vegetation to be put in was scaled back, said Price, replaced by rock that could more effectively deal with erosion.

Some residents have wondered whether the changes benefited developers while reducing the elements of the project meant for public enjoyment.

Price said that the change in the project actually resulted in less space for development than previously.

“The changes that were made were not made for the developers. They were made more for the city and for the costs,” said Wilkinson.

“(Developers) been waiting a long, long time and waiting costs money for them,” she said.

To get some available development lands outside of the flood plain going as soon as possible, Wilkinson said she is pushing for sections of Campeau to be built before the Carp River project is done.

She said she has also asked Minto to consider building a trail connecting their nearby Arcadia development to the trail system that will be built this year, providing residents with a link to Kanata Centrum.

This will be important to them, as the Campeau Drive bridge will likely not be built until 2018 or 2019, said Wilkinson.