Stark’s Mill has been on this bend of the Teeswater River since it was built in 1885, following a fire at the first gristmill on this site. Throughout that time, it’s withstood all kinds of weather and every spring flood – including some big ones like in 1929. As we make plans for the next chapter of developments within the historic mill building and work with the existing planning permissions, we are updating the floodplain mapping for the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority.
Scott Coburn of SMA Geomatics will be using a new type of drone scanner along with traditional surveying equipment to map the current topographic conditions of the mill site and riverbed. Following that, Clayton Capes of Capes Engineering will be completing the floodplain analysis. This will help ensure the gathering and accommodation spaces we’re planning include the appropriate precautions should floodwaters rise.
The image below is from the last floodplain analysis that was done in 1989 in the era of hand-drawn topography and dot-matrix printers.
