1. WETLANDSPROTECTUS
The Friends of the UNB Woodlot - April 2011
UNB WOODLOT
Larch Swale
UNB Woodlot
Fredericton NB
Southside Fredericton Residents are
Fortunate to have the Protection of Huge
Wetlands at the Top of the Hill
The new reality is that Man-made solutions WILL Wetlands are our
catastrophic storms are NOT PROTECT US against insurance policy against
now happening. flooding. climate change.
The +6-inch rain storms in Stormwater pipes are no substitute A recent study by the U.S. Global
Charlotte County last December for intact wetlands and forests Change Research Program found
2010 show the new reality faced within our city limits. * the amount of very heavy
by home and business owners in precipitation on the eastern
this province. The importance of wetlands for seaboard from Washington, D.C.,
flood control cannot be overstated to Maine rose by 67 percent
Environment Canada predicts that - 1 acre of wetland can hold 1.0 to between 1958 and 2007.
severe rain events in New 1.5 million gallons of floodwater.
Brunswick are only going to So unprecedented are these rain
increase with frequency and The wetlands in the UNB Woodlot storms that New Brunswick’s 100-
intensity. can’t be replaced by man-made year-flood risk calculations are
stormwater pipes and retention now outdated, and new ones will
NASA and NOAA predict that ponds. It simply will cost not be ready for another 2 years.
hurricane events up the Eastern Fredericton taxpayers too much
Coast of the Atlantic are going to money, and man-made This is a wake-up call for
increase with frequency and infrastructure will still fail during residents, urban planners, and all
1 intensity. severe rain storms. levels of government.

2. April 7, 2011
Thursday @ 12:15pm Without the wetlands in the UNB Woodlot,
Lunchtime Rally
where will the rain water go?
for the Woodlot
Rain storms of Dec 2010 You can’t change the Like a large umbrella
are just a prelude to the geography of southside covering our homes and
“DON’T PAVE
climate instability caused Fredericton - a downtown businesses, we are very
OVER OUR
by global warming. plat & steep hill sandwiched by fortunate to have the
FUTURE!”
the flood plain of the Saint John protection afforded by the
The warming of earth’s oceans River and the huge forested intact wetlands of the UNB
Citizens to
has altered our weather wetlands of the UNB Woodlot. Woodlot.
Measure off the
80m Buffers at systems, pushing the normal
Costco and Rally variability to extremes, And you can’t change Many cities have already lost
for Action on including snowfalls. gravity – our stormwater pipes these natural rain catchment
Climate Change drain into the Saint John River areas due to development,
by UNB & Gov’ts Severe rain events have but effectively get blocked by making their residents and
consistently risen since 1970s. the huge water pressure of the business owners vulnerable to
12:15 to 12:45 PM
rising Saint John River (during severe rain events.
Thursday, April 7th Our stormwater system is
- meet beside the severe rain events, our spring
already failing during heavy
future Costco site, freshet, and in recent years The Value of Urban Wetlands
at lights in front of rain falls (e.g. June 28, 2010
during fall and early winter www.elements.nb.ca/theme/
Home Depot (along Southside Superstore flooded,
months). filters08/Mark/Mark.htm
New Maryland Hwy) Forest Hill manhole “geysers”).
E-mail: friendsoftheUNBwoodlot@gmail.com
UNB WOODLOT
* The UNB Woodlot is a
3800-acre forested wetland
situated at the top of
Fredericton and is equal to the
size of the south side of
Fredericton and Lincoln in the
valley below. Just like an egg
cracked over a person's head,
rain captured by the UNB
Woodlot supplies the
headwaters and tributaries of
Corbett Brook, Phyllis Creek,
Garden Creek, and Baker
Brook watersheds, and smaller
watercourses that flow through
Fredericton and towards New
Maryland. With climate
change, we need all of these
catchment areas to withstand
future catastrophic rain events
of 8, 10, 12 inches of rain in a
24-hour period.
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