Moved here to drink groundwater.

When my wife and I were looking for a community in which to settle, we identified Georgetown as a good place to grow because we would be drinking groundwater, not water from Lake Ontario.  As a biologist, I appreciated the long term health benefits of drinking groundwater as opposed to Lake water, "influenced" by industries and larger communities along the Great Lakes waterway.  It's the small town flavour, yet proximity to the jobs and opportunities of the City of Toronto that we value most, but while doing so, we wanted to maintain the health of our children, with one less worry of the things in the water we drink each day.

With respect to climate change adaptation, one of the best examples of taking direction that I've witnessed in Ontario, is the extensive tree planting project taken on by The Watchtower organisation in 2016.  Over the majority of their lands, which was mostly fallow farm fields, they were spending time and resources mowing grass all summer long - putting more fossil fuel carbon into the atmosphere, as well as methane from the rotting grass clippings. In 2016, the organisation spent many person-hours of labour, and their financial resources to plant a mixed forest of evergreens and deciduous trees through the property.  Although the dry summer in 2017 wasn't helpful. they have persisted and we can now see the young forest taking shape.  Over time, as the trees and under-story plants grow, mature and compete for sunlight, they will sequester carbon in the woody tissues, locking it in for many decades to come.  The savings in fossil fuels of no longer cutting grass, are obvious, but not so obvious are the benefits to the residents, wildlife and microfauna in the soil.  The new forest will help diversify the wildlife resources, aerate the soil, generate valuable leaf litter and topsoil and produce oxygen for the local climate, significantly helping to moderate the influences of a changing climate. 

I very much appreciate the efforts of the Watchtower organisation (no, I am not a member, just a neighbour) in leading the way in Halton Hills.  They have been taking a significant step towards adapting to a changing climate, and for this they should be commended.  In more ways than simple words, they have put their personal efforts and collective resources towards maintaining our ecosystem for future generations.  Their efforts are what ecologically sustainable economic development really needs to be about. 

Shawn Taylor

Limehouse