East Riverside Flood Study

The City of Windsor recently received funding from FCM’s Municipal Climate Innovation Program to undertake a flood risk assessment for the study area along Riverside Drive East and inland, from St. Rose Beach easterly to the city limit with the Town of Tecumseh. This area of Riverside and East Riverside has historically been protected by a dike system that was constructed along the Ganatchio Trail in the 1980s. The flood risk assessment evaluated the integrity of the existing dike system to determine vulnerability under current and climate future flood levels. This report was presented to City Council on October 7, 2019 (CR523/2019). This study is now being incorporated into the Sewer Master Plan.

Thermal Comfort Improvements in Parks

In addition to the additional shade structures installed (Appendix A), the Parks Development team has installed three new splash pads to help residents beat the heat. These splash pads have been located at Captain Wilson Community Park, Jackson Regional Park and Realtor Regional Park. Water bottle fill stations have also been added along the Central Riverfront.

Parks Development and Forestry have work closely together to strategically plant 27 parks with additional trees to enhance shade coverage of playgrounds and trails.

Urban Forestry Inventory

Objective C8 of the 2017 Environmental Master Plan calls to protect and enhance the quality and condition of our urban forest canopy. Trees have many climate change benefits from uptaking water, providing shade and sequestering carbon. The Forestry division is currently wrapping up the City’s urban forest inventory and canopy cover study. It is expected that following the completion of the inventory, the Urban Forestry Master Plan will begin.

Notable Accomplishments

In April 2019, the Government of Canada announced that it was contributing over $32 million to the City of Windsor to support flood mitigation work through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund. The Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) is a national merit-based program that will invest $2 billion to support large-scale infrastructure projects to help communities better manage the risks of disasters triggered by natural hazards. DMAF projects support the Government of Canada's objectives laid out in the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.