Storm water detention pond causes problems for Mississauga residents

A large storm water detention pond in Mississauga’s Meadowvale neighbourhood has been a big source of problems for nearby residents for months.

According to residents the pond, which is meant to catch and release rainwater and drain into the Credit River, has been blocked for several weeks.

“For years, we’ve had no problems,” said David Barrington, whose backyard butts up against the pond. “But now it’s just a bog and full of algae.”

Barrington says the blockage is causing a number of issues.

“There used to be wildlife like deer and other animals back here but they’ve disappeared,” he said.

Mosquitos have been another concern.

“After 6 p.m., you can’t come outside or you’ll be swarmed,” he added.

Barrington also worries the lack of drainage caused the water to flow into his basement during the historic rainfall on July 16 which forced him to rip out his flooring.

“With the pond clogged up, it’ll put a backlog into the system. And that’s invariably what happened in our house and it flooded the basement,” he said.

Barrington has been sounding the alarm for months. While he said Mississauga city staff did send out a crew to investigate, the blockage wasn’t fixed.

”That’s when I decided to go to CityTV,” he said. “With your help I’m sure there’ll be a lot more emphasis to correct the issue.”

Speakers Corner reached out to Mississauga city staff who promised to look into the problem and see if corrections needed to be made. Less than 12 hours later a crew was dispatched to the pond.

“Starting today for the very first time, there is a truck sitting there working on this,” Barrington said. “After you guys contacted them they knew the pressure was on and sure enough a crew determined there was a blockage which prevented this pond from working as it should.”

In a statement, city Staff told Speakers Corner “the water levels remained elevated and the main outlet pipe was not flowing.”

The spokesperson went on to say while a second overflow outlet was allowing storm water to safely discharge, the main outlet still had to be cleared.

“City contractors were on-site to flush the pipe and restore the pond to normal operation,” they said.

Barrington is hopeful it will be enough to restore the pond to working condition.

“I really hope it gets back to what it once was,” he said. “Not just for the impact on me and other residents but also for the animals to get back to their lifestyle , that’s all we were asking for.”

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