Tools for community-scale implementation of green stormwater infrastructure

Faced with the combined impacts of urbanization and climate change, how can municipalities take action across the landscape to reduce flood risk, erosion, and pollution?

A free workshop, being held Wednesday 2 December in Toronto, will outline tools for community-scale adoption of green stormwater infrastructure (low impact development).

The half-day workshop will provide a strategic overview for ways to implement innovative stormwater solutions on public and private lands, including of policies and programs for green streets, parking lots, and alleys, green parks, stormwater user fees and incentives, green roofs, rainwater harvesting, and more.

Target audiences include champions of green infrastructure, such as environment and community groups, who want to support local government action. Presenters will be Clara Blakelock and Clifford Maynes of Green Communities Canada, which delivers the RAIN program. The Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition is hosting.

Workshop content will be based on the Soak it up! toolkit being developed by Green Communities Canada, with generous financial support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Participants will receive a copy of the draft toolkit and be invited to provide input.

Measures like bioswales, permeable pavement, trees, and rainwater harvesting are proven effective tools for reducing runoff and runoff pollution. This workshop is about how to systematically incorporate these green infrastructure measures in order to reap the benefits and begin to repair the urban water cycle.

The workshop will introduce a variety of green stormwater infrastructure policies and programs that have been implemented in cities across North America, with strategic insights from practitioners. The toolkit provides links to further details.

Provincial policy in Ontario supports measures to manage rain where it falls as the top priority for stormwater management, noting that conventional pipes and ponds alone cannot achieve water quality and quantity targets. The workshop focuses on opportunities for local action.

The workshop is free but pre-registration is required.

This article was published in The Umbrella Stormwater Bulletin Issue #36.

 

 

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