Humber Pond Project has Begun!

I’m excited to announce that Phase One of construction has begun on our Humber Pond Revitalization Project!

Taking place in the Humber Arboretum’s ravine just west of Hwy 27 along the West Humber Trail, this innovative project will:

- Create new learning and social gathering spaces for our students and community

- Help protect the health of people, native plants, and wildlife

- Pioneer innovative, sustainable approaches to green infrastructure

For decades, the Humber Pond has played a key role in protecting the health of the West Humber River. Excess runoff water from North Campus is channeled into the pond, where some of the sediment has a place to settle before clearer, calmer water moves into the river. In the many years since the pond was built however, knowledge about supporting sustainable water systems has improved while the pond’s water quality has degraded.

As a response, the Humber Arboretum and its three founding partners - Humber College, Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA), and the City of Toronto- came together to turn a sustainability challenge into a solution. Our plan is to clean up the water quality and restore native plants and wildlife habitat while simultaneously re-imagining the space as an outdoor classroom, living laboratory, and social gathering space.

The construction now underway will replace the metal inlet culvert pipe with open-air pools that act like a staircase, leading water slowly down to the pond. When water reaches the pond, a forebay will help stop more of the sediment, while treatment berms will catch the water again before it heads out to the river. All around the pond shoreline we will create spaces for the native plant species that naturally clean the water, while new native meadow and tree and shrub plantings will create a variety of wildlife habitat on the surrounding land.

Future construction efforts will see the addition of a new wetland along with recreational lookouts and a new outdoor classroom. This extensive effort will benefit local ecosystems and human communities alike, and represents the power of partners working together to realize a vision. We hope you’ll join in our excitement to see this project come to life!

Learn more on the Humber Arboretum and Centre for Urban Ecology’s website: https://humber.ca/arboretum/explore/ecosystems/humber-pond.html

All the best,

Alexandra (Alix) Link

Director, Humber Arboretum and Centre for Urban Ecology