Two “short-term” measures have been completed, aimed at improving water quality in Chedoke Creek and Cootes Paradise.
The city says it has installed a small-scale aeration system near the Kay Drage Park bridge to help circulate and increase oxygen levels in the water.
The aeration system is designed to decrease the amount of excess nutrients that contribute to algae blooms and cloudy water.
This past weekend, the city says workers also finished installing an 800-square-foot floating treatment wetland near Princess Point.
The plant roots installed in the wetland are meant to remove nutrients from the water, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, and create a better habitat for plant, animal and microbial life.
In the coming weeks, the city says signage will be installed near the Kay Drage Park bridge and Princess Point to educate visitors about both projects.
The city is required to implement short-term measures as part of a work plan for remediating Chedoke Creek and Cootes Paradise, which was approved by Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) on June 11.
The work plan also calls for a targeted dredging of Chedoke Creek, and is in response to ministry orders that were issued on Nov 20, 2020, after 24 billion litres of sewage and untreated wastewater spilled into the waterway through a partially opened gate on the combined sewer overflow (CSO) tank between 2014 and 2018.
The city says the small-scale aeration system and floating wetland will be evaluated for long-term effectiveness before being considered as potential solutions within the Cootes Paradise Workplan.
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