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OTTAWA — Rain barrels, porous pavement and stormwater ponds are elements of a 50-year, $43-million plan being considered as the city tries to stop run-off from polluting the Ottawa River near Westboro.
Run-off from the Westboro area and adjacent Pinecrest Creek subwatershed drains into the river upstream from the beach, contributing to beach closures during wet weather, poor water quality, erosion in the creek, poor fish habitat and high levels of water that put the Ottawa River Pathway at risk of flooding.
The area was built up decades ago without the infrastructure needed to mitigate uncontrolled run-off, according to city staff. Because of this, and the limited amount of land that’s left for typical stormwater management facilities such as ponds to be constructed, staff face a challenge in determining how to control the water.
Infill and redevelopment in the area is also expected to contribute to the problem, says a staff report to go on Tuesday before council’s environment committee. New development and pavement covers ground that otherwise would have soaked up or slowed the flow of water.
As part of the Ottawa River Action Plan — a series of projects the city is undertaking to improve river water quality — a study looked at a large zone that includes Westboro and an area west and south of the community all the way past Hunt Club Road. (The main channel of Pinecrest Creek is about four kilometres long, with about 1.5 kilometres encased in pipes.)
Officials came up with a retrofit program aimed at better handling the stormwater. It involves the use of rain barrels and permeable pavement and concrete, redirecting downspouts to porous areas, narrowing parts of streets, building rock-filled trenches and creating “rain gardens” to catch run-off. The program also calls for two “oil and grit separators” and a pair of stormwater management ponds. All of the measures would be monitored to assess their effects.
(The plan deals with uncontrolled run-off, which is different than another issue the city is working on, the well-reported sewer overflows that spill into the river through city pipes.)
Staff are asking the committee to approve the retrofit plan, which would then undergo a 30-day public review period under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act. The proposal is also considered to be a pilot for similar retrofits in older parts of the city that have limited stormwater management capabilities.
Kitchissippi Councillor Katherine Hobbs said education would play a key role in making people aware of and interested in some of the measures recommended by the study, such as rain barrels.
The issue is “certainly critical,” Hobbs said. Kitchissippi, Bay, College and Knoxdale-Merivale are listed as wards affected by the report.
During the first five years of the plan, staff would conduct pilot programs involving rainwater cisterns, rain gardens and porous pavement on city properties. Another pilot would be the creation of a “green street” — made so through narrowing parts of the street to increase the amount of permeable surface, along with using porous materials for sidewalks and planting trees. Workshops would also be held for city staff, consultants and contractors.
A study would examine homeowner participation in the use of rain barrels and other items, since private properties would be counted on for part of the long-term solution. Staff would also hope to install an “end-of-pipe” stormwater treatment facility north of Baseline Road and east of Woodroffe Avenue.
The plan was deemed to be the most cost-effective set of measures assessed by staff. Much of the retrofitting would be done when city roads, buildings and parking lots reach the end of their life-cycle, one of the reasons that the plan is expected to take 50 years to complete.
Although not a part of the retrofit proposal, staff say they’re also considering over the long-term opening up or “daylighting” enclosed sections of the creek in order to increase its capacity and improve the aquatic habitat. That would need support from the National Capital Commission, which owns almost the entire creek corridor, the report says.
The report says that $2 million in funding for the retrofit plan has been submitted for consideration in the draft 2012 water-rate budget, along with estimates for $2 million in 2013 and $9 million for 2014.
ncockburn@ottawacitizen.com
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