The City of Toronto has built a stormwater management system, the Etobicoke Stormwater Management Facility (ESWMF), along the Lake Ontario shoreline. The Facility represents an innovative stormwater management solution that integrates two previously separate water quality improvement technologiesstormwater wetlands and flow balancing systems. The facility, besides improving water quality, will provide aesthetic, recreational and educational benefits. A conceptual plan to retrofit a wetland component within the ESWMF using three wetland design options is presented. The application of this ecotechnology at other stormwater discharges along the Toronto waterfront is discussed. The paper concludes with a review of the policy implications.
/ The search for sustainable development provides the impetus forexamining the role of indigenous institutions and their ecological knowledgein environmental assessment and local sustainability. This paper attempts totrace the evolution of environmental assessment in Ghana. Focusing on theAshanti Region, the paper further discusses the nature and operations ofindigenous institutions, their ecological knowledge, beliefs, practices, andsocial norms that are relevant to environmental assessment process in thecountry. Some of the challenges that emerge from the discussions arehighlighted. There is a need to establish environmental assessment andcooperative management boards that would include representatives ofindigenous institutions. In addition, the introduction of technicaldictionaries and training manuals based on indigenous ecological knowledgeand their humane environmental practices will further improve theenvironmental assessment process in Ghana.KEY WORDS: Environmental assessment; Indigenous institutions; Indigenousecological knowledge; Sustainable development; Environmental assessmentboards
The traditional solution to stormwater runoff from housing developments has been stormwater sewer systems. A newer and increasingly popular solution is some sort of impoundment or “lake” within the development, which is thought to be cheaper, to provide recreation, to improve the aesthetics of the environment, and to increase property values. Little is known of the acceptability of these to public officials, developers, or potential residents, or of their policy implications. Two such developments in Mississauga, Ontario, were studied, in terms of the perceptions and opinions of a random sample of residents and of officials who had been involved in their planning and management. The areas have attracted a relatively young group, just beginning their child‐bearing years, with relatively high income and education. The lakes appear to be popular, and relatively successful, especially the one which provides more recreational opportunities, and which has had fewer maintenance problems. The major problems are visual and safety. The City, and to some extent the developers, are seen as the appropriate groups to manage and maintain the lakes. Some suggestions, based on residents' and officials' responses, are presented for future designs and policy formulation.
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