Spring thaw could open the floodgates

We are fast approaching the spring and the eventual rainstorms that come with it.

Back in 2009, I wrote about what I considered the problem to be: massive over-development leaving almost no grass to absorb any excess rain, with all of it (runoff) running into the sewer system in the street.

It may be relevant in a month or so if nothing has been done to remedy the problem.

When all the snow melts, spring begins and the rains come, it could be Ground Hog Day for a lot of Hamilton residents if they experience sewerback- up flooding in their basements.

The question we should be asking politicians and staff, as early in 2011 as possible, is what has city hall done about it, other than paying out millions in compassionate grants to affected homeowners to pay for the installations of sewage backup valves, some of them multiple times, while not taking responsibility for the combined sewer system that caused the problem in the first place.

Presently there are hundreds or thousands of homes which still have their eavestroughs hooked up to the sewer system.

When I bought my house on the central Mountain, I had to cut them off and use a rain-barrel and direct run-off onto my front and back yards where all the grass can absorb all the rain after the snow melts.

I also had new weeping tiles installed and a sump pump system, just to be on the safe side.

Luckily my humble abode is situated on a high point of land and has a long, steep run to the sewer system.

Other than that there's not much a citizen can do, especially in low-lying areas downtown, or developed neighbourhoods with sewer mains smaller than what is required to handle run-off from all the rampant development going on here on Hamilton Mountain.