Innovative stormwater management

Enhancing soils, wetlands and initiative a number of workshops were held in Vancouver, plant cover in the watershed and within riparian buffer Calgary and Toronto to discuss the current problems in zones is essential in order to provide sufficient capacity to urban stormwater management, and to learn from case absorb, convert and immobilize many of the contaminants studies how the increasing flood [...] As the water moves from the property to the neighborhood Based on this cross-city experience it became evident that a and into the watershed, the processes change and so do the number of new initiatives are under way to radically change contaminants. [...] At the end of the pipe all of innovative approaches that work at all scales of watershed the runoff and contaminants end up in the urban stream management and different environmental settings? [...] The fundamental changes that are required in order However, there is now sufficient evidence that using a to cope with the new rainfall/runoff regime are to shift combination of options can go a long way in reducing the from draining and removing water from sites, to storing, risk of flooding and the amount of contaminants reaching detaining and infiltrating rainwater and by enhancing the the urba [...] Another effective way is to disconnect roof drains from the stormwater pipes and divert water from impervious patios and driveways into rain-gardens (Figure THE PROPERTY SCALE: 3) and swales that allow the water to infiltrate and be stored For the first time individual land owners in the urban temporarily.