HtO: Toronto's Water from Lake Iroquois to Lost Rivers to Low-flow Toilets
What sort of rapport do Torontonians have with water? How will that relationship change in the coming decades? To celebrate the publication of HtO: Toronto's Water from Lake Iroquois to Lost Rivers to Low-flow Toilets (Coach House Books), edited by Wayne Reeves and Christina Palassio, Spacing magazine’s Matt Blackett will moderate a panel discussion on the future of Toronto's water, featuring such contributors to the anthology as Jennifer Bonnell, Kim Storey, John Lorinc, Gary Miedema, Shawn Micallef and Helen Mills. Following the panel, guests can either join contributor David Robertson on a guided walking tour of historic Fort York in relation to Garrison Creek and the original lakeshore, or stay in the Blue Barracks and discuss Toronto's water more informally over a few refreshments. – A This Is Not A Reading Series event presented by Pages Books & Magazines, Coach House Books, Take Five on CIUT and EYE WEEKLY.
Drained by a half-dozen major watersheds, cut by a network of deep ravines and fronting on a Great Lake, Toronto is a city dominated by water. Recently, the trend of fettering Toronto’swater and putting it underground has been countered by persistent citizen-led efforts to recall and restore the city’s surface water. In HtO: Toronto's Water from Lake Iroquois to Lost Rivers to Low-flow Toilets, thirty contributors examine the ever-changing interplay between nature and culture, and call into question the city’s past, present and future engagement with water.
HtO explores everything from waste disposal, waterfront reclamation and community watershed initiatives to the founding of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority after Hurricane Hazel, a psychogeographic exploration of High Level Pumping Station and a critical look at the city’s Wet Weather Flow Master Plan. In between, there are descriptions of Toronto’s geological past, the history of Taddle Creek and a Ninjalicious-style tale of infiltration of the city’s storm sewers, complete with supporting images. Together, these essays provide a context for a critical observation of the city’s relationshipto water, andhow that relationship will have to change in the coming decades.
Includes essays by Richard Anderson, Bert Archer (Globe and Mail), Chris Bilton (Spacing), James Brown (Brown & Storey Architects), Michael Cook (www.vanishingpoint. com), Nick Eyles (Toronto Rocks), Mark Fram (U ofT), Ed Freeman, Liz Forsberg (TorontoTreeTours), Michael Harrison, Kristina Hausmanis, Lorraine Johnson (Tending the Earth), Joanna Kidd, John Lorinc (Toronto Life), Steven Manell, Michael McMahon, Shawn Micallef ([murmur]), Gary Miedema (Heritage Toronto), Helen Mills (Lost Rivers), Michael Moir (York University), Mahesh Patel, Wayne Reeves (City of Toronto), Frank Remiz (City of Toronto), David Robertson, Murray Seymour, Jane Schmidt, Eduardo Sousa (Council of Canadians), Andrew Stewart, Kim Storey (Brown & Storey Architects), Ron Williamson, JohnWilson and Georgia Ydreos.
