FOURTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GRAND RIVER FLOOD

Today's Waterloo Region Record advises us both by text and photos of the flood of 1974 here in Waterloo Region. The story is titled "When the flood came". Millions of dollars of damage was done and the communities of Bridgeport and most especially Cambridge sufferred the brunt of the damage. Both areas afterwards saw millions of dollars in improvements such as dikes and widening and deepening of the Grand through the Galt area of Cambridge. There have also been improvements in flood forcasting via greater and earlier monitoring of water levels and snow pack throughout the watershed.

The Shand Dam in Belwood combined with the Conestoga Dam between Drayton and Dorking, Ontario are also part of the mix. What is not much expanded upon is the basic cause of all the damage. It is a vicious cycle involving development and paving over of vast expanses of soil and land. Included is the vast removal of both trees and wetlands. Finally as industrial, commercial and residential land prices rise there is a tendency to develop areas that common sense until then had rejected. In other words low lying lands and floodplains eventually became attractive and scenic locales. This is where much of the damages occurred. All of this human activity is a prescription for disaster. There is less ability of the land to hold water and more and more buildings and assets located too close to rivers. Improvements have been made and not a moment too soon with climate change now upon us.