The Greenland Group of Companies

Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority

RE: Town of Innisfil (Community of Alcona) Flood Reduction Class Environmental Assessment

On behalf of the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA), I would like to thank GREENLAND® International - Consulting Engineers for the excellent work undertaken to complete the Flood Reduction Class Environmental Assessment for the Community of Alcona. I also want to provide you our sincere appreciation for the support GREENLAND® provided both in-kind and financially which allowed the project to proceed. The approved strategy will now enable the LSRCA and Town of Innisfil to move forward with the next phase of the project so that the science-based, publicly supported solution, can be implemented to alleviate flooding impacting residents in Alcona as soon as possible. 

The project goal was to develop a sustainable - engineering solution to reduce significant annual flood damages currently occurring within the Community of Alcona (Town of Innisfil) and located within the Belle Aire Creek subwatershed. The project included a Class Environmental Assessment (EA) process with extensive public and other stakeholder consultations to advance a solution involving enhancing a wetland (green infrastructure) to provide flood mitigation. The project was proposed over a decade ago and was then adopted in the Town’s Master Drainage Plan as required under the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. It is now one step closer to completion. 

The project deliverables produced by GREENLAND® included an Environmental Study Report (ESR) which now provides a science-based, well-engineered, thorough and systematic understanding of the chronic flooding that has impacted the affected settlement area in the Town of Innisfil. The Environmental Study Report (by GREENLAND®) also developed a proactive flood mitigation and resiliency plan that can now be implemented by the LSRCA, Town and other stakeholders. Finally, the project work plan satisfied requirements of Ontario's Class Environmental Assessment process and with an effective/collaborative spirit of a "public-private partnership” utilizing and ecosystem approach. The timelines to complete the project were very aggressive and I was pleased that GREENLAND® was able to complete the project on-time and budget. 

In conclusion, the role that GREENLAND® played to prepare the funding application for Canada’s National Disaster Mitigation Program; securing in-kind participation of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation (ICCA) at the University of Waterloo; providing in-kind Intellectual Property leveraging resources, and the financial contribution helped ensure the project was a complete success. I look forward to working with your company again on other partnerships of mutual interest and would be pleased to serve as professional references on similar projects. 

Michael Walters
(Former) Chief Administrative Officer
Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority
November 6, 2020
 

Credit Valley Conservation

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your work on the Brampton “Pond 10 Floating Islands Research Project”. This project was a “first of its kind” within our watershed.

Greenland was responsible for preparing the design brief for the islands that provided details on the anchoring system design, safety considerations and a strategy for establishing a vegetation community among other things. This was a challenging project given that there was no pre-established process to follow and therefore we were defining the design and implementation process from scratch.

Greenland was always very responsive when issues arose and helped us troubleshoot options to solve the issue. They refined the design brief and assisted CVC with implementing improved anchor designs that have been successful in keeping the islands stable over the past few years even though some extreme weather events.

We were very pleased with the consulting services Greenland provided for this project.

Phil James, P.Eng.
Manager, Watershed Protection and Restoration
Credit Valley Conservation
March 14, 2014
 

Town of The Blue Mountains

On behalf of the Town of The Blue Mountains, we would like to thank you and your organization for your specialized technical support in a peer review capacity over the past four years… Your team not only provided timely review of all drainage related features of development applications but introduced updated municipal design criteria addressing changing climatic conditions. By unraveling the weather factors that impact snow melt potential, your team has helped the Town better understand how to be proactive in developing sustainable infrastructure.

Your team’s support assisted in keeping Town’s development projects moving forward efficiently. In addition to this, the review and introduction of updated municipal design criteria and construction standards addressing changing climatic conditions, continues to ensure the Town of The Blue Mountains fulfills its mandate for sustainable development.

Reg Russwurm MBA, P. Eng.
Director of Engineering and Public Works
Town of The Blue Mountains
February 3, 2014