Ontario's special adviser on flooding has made 66 recommendations to improve flood mitigation throughout the province.
In July, Doug McNeil was named to the post to do an independent review of flood management and 2019 flooding events in Ontario.
He delivered his report to the province on October 31.
He noted the flooding was caused by a colder-than-average winter and spring, higher-than-average snowpack, the lack of a winter thaw, rapid snowmelt and a lot of rain in the spring.
Among his recommendations is changing the floodplain mapping and helping municipalities to ensure conservation and restoration of natural green space such as wetlands.
McNeil says human error or issues with the operation of water control structures were not problems.
At the Essex Region Conservation Authority, General Manager Richard Wyma says the recommendations address the larger aspects of flooding and trying to prevent it.
The report calls for the provincial, federal and municipal governments to work with conservation authorities like ERCA to create short and long-term strategies.
In 2019, due to record high lake levels, Windsor and Essex County have been under an extended flood watch for more than six months.
"There is a real recognition in this report that flooding is experienced very differently across Ontario and the issues that we experienced here in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent along Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair and Detroit River are very different than the issues that were faced in Ottawa or Muskoka or northern Ontario that were flooded," says Wyma.
He is not discouraging about the lack of funding attached to the report.
"Dealing with flooding is not always and not just about money," he says. "I think there are other aspects in this report that are really important and really good recommendations like ensuring that there is clarity as an example on properties that are prone to flooding."
Wyma says there needs to be a focus on what can be done to try and prevent or minimize the flooding.
"When people think of flooding, they think about what happens when there is active flooding on the ground but the work that we do and the report recognizes this, the work that conversation authorities do and municipalities do — a lot of it happens before the flood happens."
Windsor and Essex County also had significant flooding in 2016 and 2017 due to torrential downpours.
Natural Resources Minister John Yakabuski says he will review the recommendations, but fell short of committing more funding.
Earlier in 2019, the Ontario government cut funding for conservation authorities for flood management.