On July 16th 2024, Toronto was hit by a record-breaking rainstorm, with some areas getting up to 100 millimeters of rain in just four hours (CBC News). The city saw over half of its average amount of rainfall for July in just a couple of hours. Following a particularly wet spring, Toronto’s infrastructure was not … Read more
Congratulation to local teams of volunteer ecological stewards who are doing their part to promote biodiversity in the midtown area. The teams operate within an arrangement between Toronto Nature Stewards and the City of Toronto, in which trained lead stewards guide ecological restoration activities in designated parkland locations around the City. The local midtown sites … Read more
A deteriorated ravine path, which some call “the missing link” in Toronto’s recreational trail system, may soon be coming back to life with the help from a midtown residents’ group. Funding for the first steps toward rehabilitating the long-neglected trail through the Vale of Avoca, a steep valley near Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue E., was approved by council … Read more
Digital Waters is a Toronto-based non-profit developing affordable, made-in-Canada water monitoring technology to better understand and protect our local waterways. Since early fall of 2024, we’ve been monitoring Yellow Creek using a series of three devices spaced roughly 500 meters apart along the creek, beginning just south of Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Each device captures high-frequency … Read more
The MRG believes that the release of the 2025 Yellow Creek GSMP represents an important element of progress towards the restoration of the Vale of Avoca, but we believe it is important to recognize that it takes an extremely narrow view of the problems that it addresses.
On March 5, 2025, the City published an environmental assessment that looking at the remediation of water services infrastructure emptying into Yellow Creek in the Vale of Avoca ravine.
Our vision: a well-maintained woodland environment that provides a green haven for midtown Toronto. Our plan: a set of goals for restoration and remediation met through a combination of City investment and private funds.
We are actively working in cooperation with the City of Toronto, the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority (TRCA) and community groups to develop a Master Plan for the Vale of Avoca that will provide a detailed design for the work that needs to be done to restore the Vale to its former status as a major recreational and ecological resource.
Rob Spindler saw a problem in his local ravine – Yellow Creek/Vale of Avoca and decided to do something about it. What started out as a one-man operation has blossomed into an annual community event in Moore Park.
