Politicians hope to keep basements dry and improve the health of the Thames River, as part of an 18.7-million-dollar infrastructure investment announced by the federal government.
Liberal MP Kate Young said the money will go towards a total of 22 different water and wastewater projects throughout the city Wednesday afternoon, and will be matched by more than $9 million by the province and the city each, to total around $36 million.
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“It’s not glamorous stuff,” said Young, referencing sewage discharge that ends up in the river, and the several families she’s spoken to who’ve been impacted by flooding.
“Maybe the first flood, they lost all their family photographs… and then they think, ‘Okay, it’s been corrected, we can use the basement again.’ They get it repaired, and then it happens again! I could tell that they needed help.”
The funding is part of a total federal investment of $37.4 million into water and wastewater projects across Ontario; while half of that is allocated for London-based projects like cleaning and relining of the Wortley Road water main and improving storm infrastructure, the other $18.7 million will be used for 67 projects in 31 communities.
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“Our infrastructure is the backbone of our community,” said Mayor Matt Brown.
“It’s so important to continue to make these significant investments. It increases our quality of life, it improves our natural environment, and it also allows those Londoners who are experiencing the heartbreaking experience of flooding in their basement to know that we’re doing everything we possibly can.”
Brown said as a council candidate in 2010, his election campaign brought him to the front steps of several homes that had dealt with flooding.
“In many cases, everything is destroyed: family heirlooms, family memories, and tens of thousands of dollars in furnishing. In some cases, residents will tell me that it’s happened on such a significant amount of number of occurrences, that they can’t get insurance anymore.”
Brown said the city’s more-than-$9-million contribution comes from existing capital budgets. The investment means a 20 per cent increase in water- and wastewater-related capital work in 2017 and 2018.
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