WC128 JanFeb2023 - Magazine - Page 5
EDITOR’S NOTE
PROJECTS l POLICY l INNOVATION
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023
VOLUME 23 NUMBER 1
EDITOR
Jen Smith
CONTENT DIRECTOR
Corinne Lynds
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
John Tenpenny, Connie Vitello
ART DIRECTOR AND SENIOR DESIGNER
Gordon Alexander
CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS
Dave Albertson, Luxmy Begum,
Emma Blackburn, Charles Bois, Saul Chernos,
Monica Emelko, Michelle Eng, Susan Girt,
Ranin Nseir, Emily Sharma, Melinda Szarics
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Jackie Pagaduan jackie@actualmedia.ca
DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER
Charlotte Stone
DIRECTOR OF EVENTS
Sarah Wensley
PRESIDENT
Todd Latham
PUBLISHER
Nick Krukowski
ADVISOR
James Sbrolla
WATER AMBASSADOR
Lee Scarlett
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ISSN 1715-670X
Taking nature for granted
WHEN MY HUSBAND and I first married, we moved out of the
city and into a small subdivision in an even smaller town. We fell
in love with the house the moment we walked into the backyard
with its breathtakingly unimpeded view of farmland that was broken only by the
stark black shadows of pines that demarcated a parcel of protected lands.
Our first year in our little home was a study in local wildlife. Spring saw us
swooped by trumpeter swans who alighted on a large pond in the field. Summer
brought the strains of tree frogs and cicadas on balmy star-filled evenings. Autumn
waned with the munching of raccoons who sat atop our pergola and ate their weight
in concord grapes. And winter was etched in with ley lines created by tiny mice
burrowing through the snow.
When our daughter arrived, she spent her first years getting up close and personal
with Eastern milksnakes, voles, and painted turtles. Opossums regularly foraged in
our gardens and we had more varieties of insects than I could identify.
Each spring, we planted potatoes just outside the fence, lovingly watering them
under the cover of darkness. And when it snowed, we would sneak to the pond to
skate in our boots, leaving long, sparkly streaks on its frozen surface.We lived by
the seasons according to the wildlife that visited our yard. We were blissfully naive,
believing that this would remain the backdrop of our memories, the trills and buzzes
and rustling its soundtrack. But the developers who had bought the farmland years
prior finally got approval to build. Their first order of business was to drain the pond.
And that changed everything.
The next spring, the trumpeter swans didn’t come. By summer, we noticed we
hadn’t heard the frogs. And by fall, we realized we also hadn’t had a single snake
slither over our feet as we gardened or had been surprised by a vole in the composter
or an opossum hiding in the grasses. Our paradise was lost in a single, seemingly
insignificant event.
Although we no longer live in that town that isn't so small anymore, I think of it
often. It’s strange to think that no one who lives there now knows that their homes
were built atop the breeding grounds for swans, their strip mall was once the site of
rabbit warrens, groundhog burrows, and the asters that my daughter lovingly picked.
And certainly no one who lives there now knows that at least one person still grieves
the loss of the pond and the swans and the frogs.
In Ontario, we are facing Bill 23, the Province’s action to build more houses to
meet the demands of a growing population. To accomplish this, they’re proposing
legislation that would decrease environmental protection, including limiting the
powers of Conservation Authorities, on whom municipalities rely for their significant
ecological expertise in the review of development proposals. If Conservation Authorities no longer have a say, who will, in the words of Dr. Suess, speak for the trees? Or
the rivers? Or the ponds? If there is no one to speak for nature, how will we ensure
that the resources we have already so poorly managed are protected?
Ontario should know better. So why aren’t they doing better?
COMING UP IN THE NEXT ISSUE: MAR/APR
THE COST AND VALUE OF WATER • UNDERGROUND STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE • CALGARY’S WATER CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY
PLUS: Columns, news and insights, coverage of the industry’s biggest events, people on the move, and more.
AD BOOKING DEADLINE: FEB 3 • MATERIAL DEADLINE: FEB 10 • DISTRIBUTION DATE: MAR 15
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WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
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