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“BC stormwater criteria and tools are receiving increasing recognition across North America because of their unique emphasis on solving both flooding and environmental problems at the source. This rethinking of traditional approaches to urban hydrology is helping to achieve higher levels of stream protection by integrating land use planning with volume-based strategies,” wrote Kim Stephens in 2004.

For years practitioners have relied upon common urban stormwater hydrologic design methodologies and trusted their results. But, should they? Join returning speaker Andy Reese as he exposes the black box of urban hydrology. In this webinar, Andy (with his normal humor) “lays bare” the popular urban stormwater methodologies, as well as their key elements, assumptions, most common misuses, and proper application.

“Innovative approaches are needed in order to mitigate the risk of flooding, pollution, and aquatic ecosystem degradation, and enhance beneficial uses of urban waters. To examine such approaches, a series of three regional conferences on innovative rainwater and stormwater management were held in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto during 2007 to 2008,” stated Dr. Hans Schreier.

“Rain gardens have ecological importance, and are a standard requirement for all developments in the City of North Vancouver. In addition, all of our major transportation projects incorporate rain gardens. A single rain garden will not make a material difference to conditions in our creeks. But 1000 rain gardens would be a different story. These will take time to implement. The process will be incremental,” states Mayor Darrell Mussatto.

“It is about looking for simpler methods to determine if there is a problem that needs detailed analysis. It is not, and never was, intended to be a replacement for detailed analyses. It should be seen as an intermediary step in the assessment process that also happens to include the opportunity to provide a look at how climate change will affect the drainage system,” said Jim Dumont.

“Good practice of the art is dependent on understanding the theory of the science; not the reverse. Become fundamentally sound in the theory, and your ability to accept and adjust for uncertainty in boundary conditions will reflect good judgement. Hydrology remains one of the few opportunities in technology where one’s diagnostic capability is put to the test of both theory and experience,” stated Robert L Smith in 1990.

“Through our years of research and advocacy on water management issues, we realized that there was something of a disconnect between information and action. Rain Ready seeks to close that gap by making it easier for homeowners, businesses, and government leaders to create Rain Ready plans,” said Harriet Festing. The Rain Ready website features videos and how-to factsheets that show rain readiness in action.

“The change is here, and it is accelerating. Local governments have an opportunity to adapt and mitigate these changes and improve resiliency of communities within existing legislative authority and current best practices,” states Kim Fowler.

The project, “Storm Water Goes Green: Investigating the Benefit and Health of Urban Trees in Green Infrastructure Installations,” will study the impact of trees on storm water management. “There is a critical need to understand the role of trees in urban areas in terms of natural storm water treatment. The knowledge we gain will allow planners and engineers to better understand how to control floodwaters naturally,” said Jon Hathaway.

“It is becoming increasingly apparent that conventional stormwater drainage systems are ill prepared to deal with increasing rain events and a drastically changed land surface. The questions that needs to be asked is how can we deal with this new reality and how do we change the traditional stormwater management system to cope with more frequent and higher flood events?”, wrote Dr. Hans Schreier.