Walking the Garrison Creek
Recently, we have seen unprecedented levels of rainfall, causing dangerous and disruptive flooding. Impermeable surfaces are often cited as a reason why our cities flood. We also have answer for where cities flood as well, because the land remembers. There have been numerous recent examples where former environmental features have become present during a major flooding event. In Abbotsford, a flood in 2021 matched the location of Sumas Lake , which was drained in the 1920s for farmland. Just last week, a flood in West-Island revealed numerous filled waterways . Toronto is no exception to this rule: as you can see in the map below, Toronto had a significant number of waterways crisscross the City, with most filled in by 1949. Only the waterways in blue still exist. You can explore this map here . While many of these waterways really only make appearances during floods, one particular waterway influences geography in Toronto today: the Garrison Creek. Filled between 1920 and 1...