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DELTA’S RAIN GARDEN PROGRAM FOR STREETSCAPE REVITALIZATION: “The road designers are taking the initiative to incorporate linear rain gardens,” stated Harvy Singh Takhar, Utilities Engineer with the City of Delta in Metro Vancouver

Note to Reader:

Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. The edition published on April 9, 2024 featured the City of Delta’s rain garden program for streetscape revitalization. The story behind the story is told by Hugh Fraser and Harvy Singh Takhar and showcases the passing of the intergenerational baton from Hugh to Harvy.

 

 

Delta’s rain garden program for streetscape revitalization

“Now in Decade Three, the rain garden program in the City of Delta is driven by a vision for protection of stream health through the use of green infrastructure that captures and sinks road runoff. Hugh Fraser successfully guided the City of Delta through the first two decades of its green infrastructure journey and streetscape revitalization program,” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.

“Hugh Fraser is an original streetscape enhancement champion in the Metro Vancouver region. When he retired in 2021, he handed the intergenerational baton to Harvy Singh to provide green infrastructure inspiration going forward.”

“Road rights-of-way account for one-third of the land area of a typical urban watershed. From the rainwater management and stream health perspective, in Delta we believed that commitment to a rain garden program would make a material difference over time,” explained Hugh Fraser.

Road designers have a major influence on the future condition of a watershed and stream health

“I had the privilege of carrying on from Hugh Fraser and Sarah Howie,” states Harvy S. Takhar. He is one of Delta’s two Utilities Engineers. “It does feel like the rain garden ethic is embedded in the culture of the organization. Curb cuts for drainage is normal practice.”

“We have done a lot of back and forth on road designs. The streetscape enhancement ideology is being implemented at the forefront rather than through a review of utilities to see whether there any drainage concerns.”

“The road designers are taking the initiative to incorporate curb cuts and even linear rain gardens. Their understanding of the need has evolved through internal collaboration. Before, emphasis was on THE WHY. Now we are getting better at THE HOW.”

 

Evolution of design details in response to operational experience

“The pandemic created a bit of a speed hump in terms of passing on learning, especially with staff turnover. By working with the roads people on curb cuts, we have actually come up with variations. Our original detail was quite generic. Now we are able to implement it in various types of curb designs.”

“We are striving to make sure that rain garden maintenance is as easy as possible, including inlets and outlets for drainage. We have evolved the designs so it is EASY CLEAN for all the sediment buildup. Our crews can quickly scoop it with a shovel and be on their way!”

“That change resulted from feedback from engineering operations staff regarding what they wanted to see. We just evolved the design as per their operational needs.”

TO LEARN MORE:

To read the complete story, download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Delta’s rain garden program for streetscape revitalization.

DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/wcp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/03/PWSBC_Living-Water-Smart_Delta-rain-gardens-and-streetscape-revitalization_2024.pdf