4DM and Synthesis Network Ltd. contracted to map the agri-food supply chain network within Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe

The Golden Horseshoe boasts rich agricultural land, a moderate climate and abundant fresh water resources. In response to this wealth of opportunities, as well as the unique challenges for agriculture in the face of rapid urban population growth, the Greater Toronto Area Agricultural Action Committee, the Region of Niagara, and the City of Hamilton in partnership with the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation released a 10-year plan — Food and Farming: An Action Plan 2021. This action plan provides recommendations for supporting and expanding a thriving, integrated food and farming sector in the Golden Horseshoe. To ensure the implementation of this action plan, the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance (GHFFA) was formed in 2012.

4DM and Synthesis Network Ltd. have been contracted by GHFFA to assemble an asset map of the agri-food supply chain in the Golden Horseshoe which will include producers, processors, and distributors, as well as marketing infrastructure, research centers, and service industry. The maps will assist providing GHFFA awareness of the depth of the agri-food supply chain in Golden Horseshoe and the data to conduct the economic analysis of the existing assets and identify gaps within the food and farming cluster of the region.

4DM and SENES contracted by MECC to study mitigating erosional impacts related to Adam Creek

The Lower Mattagami River Complex (LMRC) consists of four hydroelectric stations that historically have been providing base and peak electricity production for the Ontario electrical grid. As a part of this system, Adam Creek is used as a necessary spillway corridor to offset the passage of dangerous flows through the four associated generating stations for safety reasons. Unfortunately, diverting high peak volumes and velocity flows through Adam Creek has reshaped its physiography, including the Mattagami River confluence, as a result of severe erosion.

4DM and SENES were contracted by the Mattagami Extensions Coordinating Committee (MECC) to assess potential mitigative measures that could reduce the impacts to the downstream environment associated with releasing high flows into Adam Creek. Potential solutions will be qualitatively assessed and evaluated. It is anticipated that no single solution will resolve all of the existing issues, but that it will be a combination of comprehensive monitoring solutions, preventive intervention, and mitigation measures that will lead to a reduction in erosion along Adam Creek.