Large wetland near Tewin development gets protected

Hundreds of hectares of land immediately east of the planned future suburb of Tewinare now protectedas provincially significant wetland one of the biggest wetland designations the City of Ottawa has embarked on in severalyears.

It means no development can takeplace on 561 hectares of swamp and marsh that hug Highway 417 east of the urban core.

The Algonquins of Ontario own much of that land, which the grouppurchased from the Ontario government in 2020.

They and developmentpartnerTaggart Group have said they wouldcreatea "natural heritage trust"there, possibly linked to the National Capital Commission's Greenbelt, beside where they're planning homes forup to 45,000 people.

In a study posted recentlyon the city's website, evaluators gave the South Bear Brook wetland more than enough pointsto secure top provincial protections even under the updated, controversialwetland scorecard the Ontario government rolled out two years ago.

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The sheer size of the wetland and its importance to the watershed made it worth protecting, explained Nick Stow, who leads the city'steamresponsible for policies and land-use planning involvingthe natural environment.

Evaluators also foundfiveprovincially significant species and nests with greatblue herons, he said.

Wetland addition instead of loss

Thesenewly protected wetlands are a different outcome compared tothe55 hectares of wetland west of Stittsvillethatlost provincialstatus in 2023.

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In those cases, aprivate owner and a local quarrysaw existing wetlands downgraded on their properties now that Ontario rules allow existing files to bere-evaluated.

This wetland nearTewin, on the other hand, was a new evaluationinitiated by the municipality. But Ontario's updated points system for evaluating wetlands still affected theoutcome at South Bear Brook.

Thecity's consultantsoriginally identified more than 1,000 hectares of significant wetland a few years ago, said Stow.Then the rules changed in January 2023 and they applied the new scorecard.

In the end, 561 hectares ofprovincially significant wetland were protected.

None of the top-rankedwetlands with provincial status are located in the future Tewin developmentand ithas only a few of thelesser wetlands, he said.

"If the Tewin development proposes any changes to those wetlands, they would have to go through permitting process with the conservation authority," Stowexplained.

Expensive evaluations

The wetland evaluationwas one of many studies set in motion aftercity council gave Tewin the green lightin 2021.

When the partners first made their pitch at city hall that year, theirproposed area for Tewin wasmuch larger than the area currently being studied, but there was indeed a natural area in the east that was unlikely to be developed.

The wetlands in that areahad neverbeen properly assessed for protection, however.

"It's an expensive and a long process to evaluate a wetland," said Stow, noting that half of all wetlands across Ottawa have not been evaluated.

"We don't have the resources to go out and evaluate wetlands unless there is actually a pressing reason to do so."

Jim Meness, the executive director of the Algonquins of Ontario since 2023, said the group had worked withthe city and welcomed the wetland designation. He said he was unable to do an interview but sent a statement through a communications firm that has worked for the Tewinpartners.

"We have been aware of these beautiful natural heritage features since before we acquired the land," the statementsaid."In fact, it was an important feature that we wanted to acquire for the purpose of protecting and enhancing."

The maps thatshow South Bear Brook as protectedwetland were updated byMinistry of Natural Resources staffin January.

Stowsays the City of Ottawa will likely go through the process tohave its zoning match in early 2025.