Municipal Natural Assets Initiative — Cohort 2 National Project Summary Report: Oshawa Creek, Ontario
Published by:
David Suzuki Foundation and partners
Authored by:
Michelle Molnar,
Jeff Wilson,
Josh Thiessen,
Amy Taylor,
Haruna Monri,
Bryan Karney,
Michelle Whitbread,
Patrick Lee,
Harshad Patel,
Lucy Lovric,
Julie MacIsaac,
Lucy Benham,
Perry Sisson,
Cheekwan Ho
Partners:
Smart Prosperity Institute,
Town of Gibsons,
Roy Brooke and Associates
Cities, Climate solutions eco-assets, Ontario, community and culture, economics, land use, natural capital, Municipal Natural Assets Initiative
The City of Oshawa, Ontario, initiated the MNAI Oshawa Creek project to better understand the conditions, functions and values of the natural assets along the Oshawa Creek, and to make the area more resilient to storm events. Additionally, the city wants to ensure the developments upstream of the project area manage both water quantity and quality before it goes into the Oshawa Creek, and do not contribute to downstream erosion, flooding, water quality degradation and habitat loss.
The project measured how the natural assets are currently reducing erosion and maintaining water quantity and quality, and identified opportunities to improve both through natural asset management and low-impact development practices.
The project results indicate that the natural assets in the seven-kilometre project area, excluding the floodplain, have a value of $18.9 million in terms of how they are currently managing stormwater. When including the full length of the creek and surrounding flood plain, the total value of the Oshawa Creek watershed increases to between $392 million and $414 million.
Results demonstrated that preventative measures to protect natural assets upstream of the project area are required to manage post-development stormwater flows. These findings can support the city’s ongoing asset management efforts, and provide a rationale for the project being replicated in other areas.
