WC134 JanFeb 2024 - Magazine - Page 14
SPONSORED CONTENT
The future of our communities relies on the commitments we
make today. EPCOR’s annual ESG report shares progress
on the North American utility’s sustainability journey, along
with stories on innovative projects that are paving the way.
This includes the dry ponds built as part of the awardwinning Stormwater Integrated Resource Plan – protecting
communities from 昀氀ooding.
DRY PONDS
A simple, yet innovative approach to 昀氀ood mitigation
BY CURTIS GILLESPIE
"There are
multiple form
factors for dry
ponds, such as
a soccer 昀椀eld
or a baseball
diamond. But
昀椀rst you have
to make sure
it's where the
water wants
to go."
— Susan Ancel,
Director of One Water
Planning, EPCOR
But that doesn’t change the nature of
water.
There are 昀椀ve components to SIRP. SLOW
(slowing stormwater entry into the drainage
network), MOVE (moving excess water away
from high-risk areas), SECURE (making sure
properties are protected), PREDICT (using
technology to predict stormwater 昀氀ow and
management) and RESPOND (reacting to
storm events to protect the community).
Whether it comes up out of the ground or
falls out of the sky, it will still want to go
where it’s been going for millennia. Which
can be a problem when your neighbourhood
used to be a lake and you have an old
basement. So, what can be done?
Susan Ancel is EPCOR’s director of One
Water Planning. “There are multiple form
factors for dry ponds, such as a soccer 昀椀eld
or a baseball diamond,” says Ancel. “But
昀椀rst you have to make sure it’s where the
water wants to go.”
Welcome to the dry pond – a key part
of EPCOR’s 昀氀ood mitigation strategy in
Edmonton. A dry pond is a depression in
the landscape usable for recreation, but
when storms and 昀氀oods occur they act as a
catchment and hold excess water until the
drainage network can handle it.
Though she adds that nothing happens
until the City and community partners
approve a location. Once the location
makes sense, then it’s about a deeper
conversation with the community. Yes,
dry ponds are there for 昀氀ood mitigation,
but they can also serve as sports 昀椀elds,
pathways, green spaces, sledding hills,
and natural habitats for 昀氀ora and fauna.
They are integral aspects of a community.
It takes genuine communication to make
sure everyone from EPCOR engineers
to tobogganing children are happy.
Community landscapes have changed over
time. Areas that once contained small lakes
and sloughs may have been suppressed or
diverted decades ago for neighbourhood
development.
The concept is deceptively simple. A hole is
dug, weeping tile is put in place, pipes are
fed in for over昀氀ow control, drainage grates
are installed, and the surface is landscaped.
The dry pond then functions as a park in
a high-昀氀ood-risk neighbourhood, so that
excess water ends up there instead of your
basement.
It’s all part of the Stormwater Integrated
Resource Plan (SIRP), EPCOR’s awardwinning approach to gauging 昀氀ood risk.
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WATER C AN ADA • JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 2024
Dawn Fenske is an EPCOR senior advisor of
stakeholder engagement. Every dry pond
might look the same, she says, “but how
our team engages with residents changes
based on location, what exactly we’re doing
there, and the priorities of the community.”
