From: Hawkins, Bruce (ENE) Sent: April-15-11 4:27 PM To: paul@renaud.ca Cc: Darlene.Conway@ottawa.ca; Burns, Steve (ENE) Subject: RE: OWRA & EAA Implications of Beaver Pond Forest Thank you for your April 5, 2011 email to me about wastewater management in the Beaver Pond Forest. My staff have had discussions with staff at the City of Ottawa about the proposal to divert surface drainage from an area within the proposed Kanata Lakes North development, located within the headwaters of Shirley’s Brook, into the Watt’s Creek system via the Kizell Drain. According to the City of Ottawa, any diversion of drainage from the Shirley’s Brook catchment area into the Kizell Drain/Beaver Pond system, including the 11 hectares in phase 9, is the subject of an on-going environmental assessment project. The City indicates that the portion of the phase 9 development that naturally drains into the Kizell Drain/Beaver Pond system is not part of the EA and can proceed. The City of Ottawa is the proponent of the environmental assessment. It is my understanding that the first stage of the environmental assessment will be undertaken as a Master Plan and will involve updating the existing subwatershed conditions, preliminary comparison and evaluation of alternative stormwater management measures, selection of recommended options and identification of further studies required to satisfy the Class EA process. After this stage, the City will undertake additional environmental assessment work for any recommended schedule B and/or C projects. The City commented that the “integration provisions” in section A.2.9 are not applicable to the types of undertakings anticipated, and therefore the integration process will not be followed for this Class EA project. Please discuss any concerns about the Master Plan, and the appropriate “project schedule” (category) of the individual projects, with Darlene Conway at the City of Ottawa. MOE staff have no concerns with the City’s environmental assessment approach, and have no reason to believe that the proponent is not complying with the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment. You raised a concern about piece-mealing of the development. Piece-mealing is a term specific to class environmental assessment projects, and does not apply to land use planning applications and related land clearing and preparation. It is up to the proponent to determine the scope of Class EA projects, and to ensure projects are not being planned in a piece-meal fashion. As discussed in the City of Ottawa emails to you, the diversion is the subject of a Class EA project. It is up to the proponent to determine which stormwater management projects should be included within the scope of that Class EA, and the appropriate study area for the project. MOE staff have no concerns about this issue, and have no reason to encourage the City of Ottawa to expand the scope of the Class EA to include the entire Phase 9 development of the Beaver Pond Forest. The information on the quantities of the diversion are not available at this time, therefore, it would be premature to determine whether a Permit to Take Water will be required. Please continue to discuss your concerns with phasing of land use planning applications, diversion of drainage, and the proposed environmental assessment process with Darlene Conway at the City of Ottawa. Thanks Bruce Bruce Hawkins Manager, Technical Support Eastern Region direct line: 613-548-6903 fax: 613-548-6908 bruce.w.hawkins@ontario.ca General Inquiries: 613-549-4000 or 1-800-267-0974