RESTORE COOTES

After two decades of slow progress, restoration of Cootes Paradise takes a giant leap forward Mother Nature pressed fast-forward this summer on the decades-long recovery of the most important fish spawning marsh this side of Lake Ontario. But if you don't routinely paddle and peer into the water of Cootes Paradise, you probably missed it. "I went for a paddle in June and presto — it looked like we had practically regrown half the marsh," said Tys Theysmeyer, head of natural lands for the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was a startling development for an agency that has worked since 1993 to restore the ill-treated water body at the west end of Hamilton Harbour, where pollution, flushed silt and voracious carp had all but wiped out vegetation in the once-teeming wetland. When we started restoration, there were two water lilies left here. Tys Thysmeyer Royal Botanical Gardens Over two decades, sewage control efforts, a $2.3-million carp barrier and replant...

Real signs of life in Lot M this July, as work proceeds on creating the naturalized 30 metre buffer to protect Ancaster Creek from McMaster's parking lot. The pavement was ripped up and fill was placed behind a new concrete curb 30 metres away from the creek. More detailed info to come, but the pictures help to show the new landscape as it takes shape. Hints of the lost natural landscape suggest themselves, but the area remains a filled-in floodplain. It would need a lot more work to ever return to floodplain function, but the McMarsh initiative could be a step in that direction if the University decides to commit fully to the project.

From the McMaster Parking web page: Q:  Why do I not have the option to purchase permits in any parking lot? A:  Students and Part- time staff have the options to purchase parking in the Stadium, Lot M, and Ward Ave. All other Lots are designated for full- time faculty and staff members and permits are distributed based on seniority of working years at the University.

With construction crews tearing up McMaster's Lot M Parking asphalt to create the minimum requirement of a 30 metre naturalized buffer between parking and the cold-water Ancaster Creek, nary a peep in the McMaster Daily News or Parking's web site news. I've asked a few people with parking passes in Lot M if they know what is going on with the large scale construction project: no one had an inkling, thinking it was a just a repaving job. I e-mailed the parking office April 16 to ask what was going on, and have not received a reply. So today I was in the school bookstore on other business when I noticed a parking desk/kiosk in the store. I spoke with the person staffing the booth and asked about Lot M: they explained the work was a project for the Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA) to protect the creek, and when I asked about loss of parking effecting current parking pass holders, they explained that drivers who had a permit in lot M and wanted renewal would get a...

From Ponds to Parking, and Back Again: The History of Coldspring Valley. The relationship between McMaster and the Royal Botanical Gardens is intwined by a mutual history, and confounded by conflicting requirements. In 1963 McMaster purchased the Coldspring Valley Nature Sanctuary property from a reluctant RBG and turned it into a massive parking lot. 50 years later is there a chance for the lost floodplain to make a come-back? How's that for a title and synopsis? Would you come and listen if I promise not to go on too long? Pencil in Oct. 9, 2014 at the Dundas Historical Museum (7:30pm start)

Undergrads setting up hydrological measurements, photo by Dr. Waddington Undergraduates are already benefitting from research in the west campus that will expand once the McMarsh project is a reality. These students are working at a site where the springs are discharging that would eventually feed McMarsh. Professor Mike Waddington is a key member of the McMarsh team, and his expanded engagement with this project has him creating a brand new course titled "Field techniques in Hydrology" starting in September. These are exciting times of major changes for McMaster as we revalue land use, from excess parking to rehabilitation of natural lands with a hands-on teaching and research component that enhances the learning environment of the campus. There's already a lot more activity in Lot M with several classes from McMaster engaging with the site as an opportunity to further educational goals across disciplines. Courses doing work in the area include Integrated Scien...

Yes, it's been over 5 years since the south west section of Lot M was closed for a major construction project to install a combined sewer overflow tank. The original notice with map of area (the closed section was actually larger than just the CSO tank shown, since the city needed the parking lot to store equipment and the earth dug out to create the underground holding tank) Section of Lot M April 2014- future site of McMarsh? If the University Administration agrees to extend the development of the Forward with Integrity grant through the McMaster President's Office, this south-western former parking lot could be transformed into McMarsh , a unique, hands-on outdoor teaching and research facility for McMaster students and researchers, and include public access to learning opportunities on wetland/floodplain rehabilitation.