Evolution of SWM

the mid 1970s, attempts to control runoff flow rates from urban developments were initiated. By the late 1980s, water quality became an additional focus and in the late 1990s, approaches to mitigate accelerated stream channel erosion were introduced. Lot level stormwater management approaches have been advocated in Ontario since 1995 (OMMAH, 1995), but widespread application has yet to occur. Today, with improvements in our understanding of watershed systems and the potential impacts urbanization can have on aquatic ecosystems, stormwater management addresses a broad suite of issues including fluvial geomorphology (stream channel forming processes), groundwater resources and the protection of aquatic and terrestrial habitats (Figure 1.2.1).

Municipalities, with the support of conservation authorities, review stormwater management facilities and plans designed to address this multitude of concerns. This has led to an increasing complexity in stormwater management planning and design including:

• increasingly complex stormwater management facilities and best management practices;
• the need to involve more inter-disciplinary expertise in studies to define environmental opportunities and constraints;
• expanding requirements for multi-purpose stormwater management facilities; and,
• increased emphasis on the treatment train approach and use of multiple types of controls to address environmental issues.

CVC and TRCA have been extensively involved in integrated watershed-wide environmental monitoring for many years. The results of this monitoring have shown that the environmental health of many watersheds continue to decline as urbanization increases. This environmental deterioration has taken place despite widespread compliance with provincial and conservation authority requirements for stormwater management planning and facility design. Conventional stormwater management, which focuses on controlling peak flow rate and the concentration of suspended solids, has failed to address the widespread and cumulative hydrologic modifications in watersheds that increase the volume of stormwater, increase the runoff rate, and cause excessive erosion and degradation of stream channels. Conventional stormwater management also fails to adequately treat other pollutants of concern, such as nutrients, pathogens and metals.1

CVC’s recent Credit River Water Management Strategy Update concludes that continued use of what are currently considered “state of the art” stormwater management practices will lead to continued degradation of the watershed, jeopardizing the health of the Credit’s world class fishery and other valued environmental resources (CVC, 2007b). To protect the health of the Credit River watershed, the updated water management strategy calls for an immediate shift to more proactive and innovative stormwater management systems that include low impact development practices. TRCA’s Rouge River Watershed Plan (TRCA, 2007c), Humber River Watershed Plan (TRCA, 2008a) and Don River Watershed Plan (TRCA, 2009a) reach similar conclusions about the inability of conventional stormwater management practices to protect the health of rivers and the need for low impact development approaches. In addition, the Rouge River Watershed Plan concludes that widespread implementation of LID practices in new and existing developments could increase the resiliency of the watershed system to some anticipated impacts of climate change on baseflow and channel erosion (TRCA, 2007d).

Recent research (Aquafor Beech Ltd., 2006) has suggested that current practices to offset the hydrologic effects of urbanization are insufficient to prevent increased channel erosion and deterioration of aquatic habitats. In many cases, even small incremental changes in watershed hydrology commensurate with an increase in impermeable surfaces of 4%, can result in changes to stream channel characteristics and aquatic communities. To offset these impacts, an increased emphasis on maintaining natural water balance and replicating the predevelopment hydrologic cycle is required (Aquafor Beech Ltd., 2006).

Finally the 2003 OMOE Stormwater Management Planning and Design Manual, though reflective of current technology is rapidly becoming dated, since much of the material it reviewed dates from 1999. In the last five years, over 30 state-of-the-science stormwater management manuals and guidelines have been released in locations such as Maryland, Washington State, British Columbia, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Oregon. The objective of maintaining predevelopment water balance, use of the treatment train approach and application of low impact development practices are all becoming common practice in these jurisdictions.

Two recent documents, one prepared by the City of Toronto and the other prepared by the Greater Vancouver Regional District summarize how the approach to stormwater management needs to change.

Rainwater should be treated as a resource to nourish and enhance the City’s environment. Management should begin where precipitation hits the ground according to the priority of source, conveyance, end-of-pipe and finally, stream restoration measures (City of Toronto, 2006). There is a need for a change in the philosophy of treating runoff from one of stormwater management to rainwater management (GVRD, 2005). This is why CVC and TRCA commissioned the development of a stormwater management guide to provide guidance on the kind of cutting edge practices that are needed to protect the health of the CVC and TRCA watersheds. The LID SWM Guide draws on published research, literature and local studies to provide planning and design guidance that reflects regional policies, practices and climate. It provides information and guidance on the following:

• how to integrate stormwater management into the urban planning process;
• how to design, construct and maintain a range of LID stormwater management practices; and
• the kinds of environmental and performance monitoring that should be carried out.

Acknowledging that it will not always be possible to maintain the predevelopment water budget of a site, predicted increases in runoff from land development that cannot be mitigated through stormwater infiltration practices should be minimized through practices that either evapotranspire (e.g., green roofs, bioretention), or harvest runoff for non-potable uses (i.e., rainwater harvesting). In areas where development has already taken place, LID can be used as a retrofit practice to reduce runoff volumes, pollutant loadings, and the overall impacts of existing developments on receiving waters. LID practices can include:

• conservation site design strategies (i.e., non-structural LID practices);
• infiltration practices;
• rainwater harvesting;
• runoff storage and evapotranspiration;
• runoff conveyance;
• filtration practices; and landscaping.

Studies show that implementing LID practices can have multiple positive environmental effects including:

• protection of downstream resources;
• abatement of pollution;
• recharge of groundwater;
• improvement of water quality;
• improvement of habitat;
• reduced downstream flooding and erosion;
• conservation of water and energy; and
• improved aesthetics in streams and rivers.

These combined benefits help to mitigate potential negative impacts of climate change on groundwater levels, risk of flooding and stream channel erosion.

The portion of water precipitated onto a catchment area, which then flows as surface discharge from the catchment area past a specified point.

Water from rain, snow melt, or irrigation that flows over the land surface.

A natural waterway, formed by fluvial processes, that conveys running water.

The treatment of urban runoff as close to the source area as possible through application of small scale stormwater management practices on individual properties that are linked to downstream conveyance and end-of-pipe practices.

The changing of land cover and land uses from rural to urban; the growth of urban settlements.

The study of the processes responsible for the shape and form, or morphology, of watercourses; describes the processes whereby sediment (e.g., silt, sand, gravel) and water are transported from the headwaters of a watershed to its mouth.

Surface runoff from at-grade surfaces, resulting from rain or snowmelt events.

State of the art methods or techniques used to manage the quantity and improve the quality of wet weather flow. BMPs include Source, Conveyance and End-Of-Pipe Controls.

Stormwater management following the hierarchical approach: Source Control measures, Conveyance Control measure and End of Pipe treatment to achieve the water quality and water balance target for lot level development of the preferred strategy.

A combination of lot level, conveyance, and end-of-pipe stormwater management practices.

Credit Valley Conservation

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority

The drainage area of a river.

An area of land that drains into a river or a lake. The boundary of a watershed is based on the elevation (natural contours) of a landscape.

A stormwater management strategy that seeks to mitigate the impacts of increased urban runoff and stormwater pollution by managing it as close to its source as possible. It comprises a set of site design approaches and small scale stormwater management practices that promote the use of natural systems for infiltration and evapotranspiration, and rainwater harvesting.

Low Impact Development. A stormwater management strategy that seeks to mitigate the impacts of increased urban runoff and stormwater pollution by managing it as close to its source as possible. It comprises a set of site design approaches and small scale stormwater management practices that promote the use of natural systems for infiltration and evapotranspiration, and rainwater harvesting.

The accounting of inflow and outflow of water in a system according to the components of the hydrologic cycle.

The circulation of water from the atmosphere to the earth and back, through precipitation, runoff, infiltration, groundwater flow and evapotranspiration.

Refers to the conditions in which an organism lives and survives or the conditions in which an organism resides. These conditions can be described as aspects of a “physical”, “social” or an “economic” environment, depending on the perspective perceived by the observer.

Any form of rain or snow.

Movement of water from one location to another.

Stormwater Management

A shallow excavated surface depression containing prepared filter media, mulch, and planted with selected vegetation.

The practice of intercepting, conveying and storing rainwater for future use. Captured rainwater is typically used for outdoor non-potable water uses such as irrigation, or in the building to flush toilets.

(1) Something that pollutes, especially a waste material that contaminate air, soil, or water. (2) Any solute or cause of change in physical, chemical or biological properties that render water unfit for a given use.

Watercourses and Lake Ontario, to which Stormwater and Combined Sewer Overflows discharge.

The quantity of water transpired (given off). Retained in plant tissues, and evaporated from plant tissues and surrounding soil surfaces. Quantitatively it is usually expressed in terms of depth of water per unit area during a specified period. e.g. mm/day

The combined loss of water to the atmosphere from land and water surfaces by evaporation and from plants by transpiration.

The technique of removing pollutants from runoff as it infiltrates through the soil.

The addition of water to ground water by natural or artificial processes.

The infiltration and movement of surface water into the soil, past the vegetation root zone, to the zone of saturation or water table.

The water below the surface, and typically below the groundwater table.

(1) The wearing away of the land surface by moving water, wind, ice or other geological agents, including such processes as gravitation creep; (2) Detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by water, wind, ice or gravity (i.e. Accelerated, geological, gully, natural, rill, sheet, splash, or impact, etc).