Letter to the editor - The Markham Economist & Sun
Re: Group calls for moraine protection, Sept. 22.
From a distance, the Oak Ridges Moraine is a picture perfect landscape. Who wouldn’t want a piece of its beauty? But that’s just the problem.
Its enticing fishing waters, pristine golf courses and scenic trails and parks have attracted thousands of residents.
Reporter David Fleischer highlights several key concerns placing strain on the moraine including the degradation of animal habitats and threatening levels of phosphorus and E. Coli in the plants.
But, like a beautiful painting, it is easy to miss how the frame around the canvas can affect the overall picture. Not only does the land itself need restoring, but its outskirts that need paying attention to.
To the north of the moraine is an ever increasing urban development. Hundreds of millions of litres of underground water, filtered by the sand and gravel of the moraine, is lost in water and sewage pipes of residential and industrial areas and during the construction of the major sewage systems serving York Region.
As the underground water is depleted, streams that flow off the moraine diminish and waterways dry up. It will only be too late when we notice fish species disappearing and the ripple effect of a suffering ecosystem soon after.
Saving the moraine itself is not enough. We must look at the region as a whole if we want to preserve the very beauty that drew it to us in the first place.
Jennifer Low
Richmond Hill
Monday, October 3, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Andy | 6:04 AM | 
The Oshawa Express - September 28, 2011
There is a STORM brewing in the name of saving the Oak Ridges Moraine. On the 10-year anniversary of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, Save the Oak Ridges Moraine (STORM), Earthroots and Ontario Nature have teamed up to raise awareness about the severe threats facing the moraine, known as Southern Ontario’s rain barrel.
“We're pleased to announce the launch of our ‘Moraine Can't Wait’ campaign, which will focus attention on a number of serious issues facing the moraine,” says Debbe Crandall, executive director of STORM. “We can't wait until the 2015 review of the Conservation Plan, during which time these problems will only get worse. We're asking Ontario residents to make the moraine a priority in this provincial election.” The Oak Ridges Moraine extends for 160 kilometres and is north of the Greater Toronto Area, extending through parts of Durham Region.
According to a release, this land formation possesses important prairie, forest and wetland habitats, many of which are a refuge for rare plants, birds and turtles.
The moraine is compared to a rain barrel because it supplies drinking water to more than 250,000 people, the release continues, adding the area is now vulnerable to many threats.
“Unmonitored water taking is one of the most troubling concerns we have about the moraine,” says Josh Garfinkel, senior campaigner with Earthroots. “Millions of litres of water are pumped out of the aquifers every day and millions more leak into the sewage system.” Other threats to the moraine, STORM states, include ongoing development as a result of proposals that were approved before the Conservation Act was passed, dumping fill into abandoned aggregate pits and infrastructure that continues to be built, even in core natural areas. These groups say they are raising awareness about the deficiencies in the Conservation Act and Plan for the moraine in the weeks leading up to the provincial election.
“We need answers now. The Oak Ridges Moraine is one of the most significant green landscapes left in southern Ontario,” adds Crandall. “We cannot sit by and watch it lose any more of its natural values.”
There is a STORM brewing in the name of saving the Oak Ridges Moraine. On the 10-year anniversary of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, Save the Oak Ridges Moraine (STORM), Earthroots and Ontario Nature have teamed up to raise awareness about the severe threats facing the moraine, known as Southern Ontario’s rain barrel.
“We're pleased to announce the launch of our ‘Moraine Can't Wait’ campaign, which will focus attention on a number of serious issues facing the moraine,” says Debbe Crandall, executive director of STORM. “We can't wait until the 2015 review of the Conservation Plan, during which time these problems will only get worse. We're asking Ontario residents to make the moraine a priority in this provincial election.” The Oak Ridges Moraine extends for 160 kilometres and is north of the Greater Toronto Area, extending through parts of Durham Region.
According to a release, this land formation possesses important prairie, forest and wetland habitats, many of which are a refuge for rare plants, birds and turtles.
The moraine is compared to a rain barrel because it supplies drinking water to more than 250,000 people, the release continues, adding the area is now vulnerable to many threats.
“Unmonitored water taking is one of the most troubling concerns we have about the moraine,” says Josh Garfinkel, senior campaigner with Earthroots. “Millions of litres of water are pumped out of the aquifers every day and millions more leak into the sewage system.” Other threats to the moraine, STORM states, include ongoing development as a result of proposals that were approved before the Conservation Act was passed, dumping fill into abandoned aggregate pits and infrastructure that continues to be built, even in core natural areas. These groups say they are raising awareness about the deficiencies in the Conservation Act and Plan for the moraine in the weeks leading up to the provincial election.
“We need answers now. The Oak Ridges Moraine is one of the most significant green landscapes left in southern Ontario,” adds Crandall. “We cannot sit by and watch it lose any more of its natural values.”
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