SALTFLEET CONSERVATION AREA READY FOR THE BIRDS

NATURE WILL QUICKLY HELP NEW WETLANDS TAKE SHAPE, AUTHORITY SAYS

Scott Peck says it may take a bit of imagination to appreciate the impact of the two new mostly barren and dry wetlands at upper Stoney Creek's Saltfleet Conservation Area.

"It's one of those examples of, 'If you build it, they will come,'" the Hamilton Conservation Authority's deputy chief administrative officer said during a Sept. 23 walkabout with guests celebrating the 72hectare park's reopening.

"Picture it greening up, and the trees growing and the birds coming. I think if you come here in February, March, April of 2023, expect to see tons of ducks, tons of geese. It'll be fantastic."

The fledgling First Road East site closed for a year during construction of the wetlands, funded by a $2million donation from the Heritage Green Community Trust, which distributes community royalties from the Taro industrial dump.

The project planted more than 800 trees and created new trails along the top of wetland berms connecting to the Dofasco 2000 Trail, which runs from the Devil's Punchbowl to 11th Road East.

The wetlands cover more than 13 hectares of the park, which serves as the main hub of the 142hectare conservation area, and Peck said they will do much more than provide wildlife habitat.

They can hold an estimated 88 Olympic-size swimming pools of water, enough to withstand a 100year storm event, or the equivalent of 48 hours of steady rain, he said, which will help reduce flash flooding along Battlefield Creek below the escarpment.

"The likelihood of (them) overflowing is not low, but it's not going to be a regular occurrence by any stretch," Peck said. "A lot of modelling was done to make sure that the flooding is contained on this property and doesn't have any impacts downstream or upstream."

Hamilton Conservation Authority chair Lloyd Ferguson said the wetlands are a milestone in a larger climate-change mitigation strategy that will add wetlands at other three properties along the Dofasco 2000 Trail. He said they also realize the conservation authority's goal of expanding beyond the Dundas Valley and other major land holdings in the west end.

"This is the first big venture out into east Hamilton and much overdue," Ferguson said. "Once all four planned wetlands are built in the coming years, the area will have the ability to hold the equivalent of more 200 Olympic-sized swimming pools. If anybody doesn't know what that it, it's a lot of water."

Brad Clark, the area's councillor, called the new wetlands "awesome," if a work in progress.

"I can't wait to see what they'll look like in the spring," he said.