WC128 JanFeb2023 - Magazine - Page 12
ASSET MANAGEMENT
”In terms of what grey infrastructure solutions would
cost to provide the same service, the estimated total value
for stormwater management is approximately $2 billion.“
Cross-Boundary
Collaboration
Grindstone Creek Watershed Project BY EMILY SHARMA
Emily Sharma
Emily Sharma is a communications
associate with Municipal Natural
Assets Initiative
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WATER C AN ADA • JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 2023
only demonstrated the important role that Grindstone has in terms of risk mitigation and service
delivery to the region, but also revealed the opportunity for local governments across Ontario to achieve
cost-effective service solutions through collaborative
watershed management.
The Grindstone Creek watershed spans 91 km2
within Ontario’s Greenbelt. The watershed contains
the greatest diversity of wildlife of any Canadian
Forest Zone, including species found nowhere else in
the country. An essential piece of this project is that,
because of the partnered approach, both the evaluation and solutions could be applied at the level of
the watershed. A pinch point for local governments
looking to manage natural assets it that nature is
not confined to municipal jurisdictions. That often
means that their power to manage large resources,
especially watersheds, is restricted and ultimately inefficient. This stands at odds with the fact that many
communities could be benefiting from the shared
natural asset.
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
CH
T
HE MUNICIPAL NATURAL ASSETS
INITIATIVE (MNAI) has now completed
the Grindstone Creek Watershed Natural
Asset Management Project. In addition to
highlighting many service benefits provided
by the watershed, the project confirmed that effective
watershed management means looking for partners
upstream.
The first of its kind in Ontario, the project began
with a partnership between the City of Hamilton,
the City of Burlington, Conservation Halton, and
Royal Botanical Gardens who, with support from
the Greenbelt Foundation, worked with MNAI to
initiate a collaborative natural asset management plan
for the Grindstone Creek watershed.
The completed report focuses on the site-specific
evaluation of the watershed’s natural assets with specific focus on flood risk and stormwater management
in the context of climate projections. Findings not
