Paving over the Greenbelt…

Paving over the Greenbelt will have flood insurance effects for more than the rubes who buy houses on land that's normally marsh. One of the many important things the Greenbelt does is it retains water, slowing it down from reaching places downstream. This smooths out the surge in flow rate from things like heavy rainstorms.

Paving over the Greenbelt will increase the peak amount of water flowing into the waterways. Rain doesn't penetrate asphalt very well, and so instead of going into the dirt to recharge the aquifers, it just runs off into the nearest waterway. As a result, this will have flooding impacts on people downstream. Now we can hope that the stormwater management systems between Doug's new subdivisions and downstream communities might have some spare capacity to absorb the surge - but one of the problems with heavy rainstorms is that they hit an entire area all at once.

IOW, the increased flood risk isn't just for these new subdivisions Dougie wants built - but also for people who live between them and the lake.