Mayor John Tory and federal officials have announced a joint investment of $30 million to protect Toronto shorelines from future flooding and erosion.
Tory said on Monday that the federal government will be backing almost $12 million into projects, while the city will provide an additional $18 million.
There will be about 35 different projects funded and set to start as early as next year. Tory said the projects will protect the waterfront from Humber Bay Park to the Scarborough Bluffs.
With water levels at an all-time high this year, the mayor said these projects from city and federal officials can help mitigate effects of flooding and shoreline erosion in present and future situations.
He said some of this investment will also be allotted to help the Toronto Islands, whose water levels reached a record-breaking 76.03 metres in May of this year.
“In the aftermath of the flooding in 2017, we made investments in the Toronto Islands that made it possible for the islands to carry on in a slightly more normal fashion when we had record levels this past year,” Tory said.
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Tory said the project will include placing a set of large boulders that “effectively breaks the water” to protect high water levels from spilling onto trails near the shore and eroding the shoreline areas.
The projects will also be in partnership with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).
John MacKenzie, CEO of TRCA, said the investment will help maintain erosion and control infrastructure along the trails and areas used most by residents.
“One of the things we saw with the high lake levels and the wave action was the erosion of a number of parts of the waterfront trail and Martin Goodman Trail, and those are used by so many hundreds of thousands of people,” MacKenzie said.
Other aspects on which the projects will focus include strategic placement of plants to help support tree canopy in the city.
The money will also help the conservation authority manage any future situations involving extreme weather and high lake levels.
WATCH: West Toronto community looks to City for help with damaging flooding (July 2019)
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