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STUDENT COMPETITION
Let It Rain (Solutions)
How climate change is reshaping Canadian cities—and why the need for
stormwater innovation is more urgent than ever
BY ELLEN CAMPBELL
S CLIMATE CHANGE intensifies,
communities across Canada are facing more frequent and severe rainfall
events—leading to urban flooding,
infrastructure strain, and environmental degradation. In response, Rain It In has
emerged as a proactive initiative that empowers
students to design innovative solutions to these
pressing challenges.
Rain It In is a non-profit organization that
hosts competitions for post-secondary students,
encouraging them to create strategies that help
mitigate the impacts of flooding. The initiative
promotes interdisciplinary collaboration, with
teams submitting detailed proposals and presenting their ideas to panels of industry experts.
Each competition is organized in partnership
with a project sponsor, who provides a real-world challenge for students to address.
In this Q&A, we speak with Curtis Mei,
Stormwater Systems Specialist with the City of
Peterborough, about Rain It In’s Winter 2025
student competition, which focused on restoring Jackson Creek and Little Lake. We explore
the diverse teams from across Canada, the
wide-ranging approaches they brought to the
challenge, the mentorship and industry insights
that shaped their work, and how their proposals were
evaluated. Curtis also highlights standout submissions,
surprising innovations, and the winning teams—and
shares how some of these solutions could soon take root
in the community.
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A
1. Can you tell us more about the Winter 2025 challenge and the problem students were asked to solve?
This year’s challenge focused on Jackson Creek and Little
Lake—two important parts of Peterborough’s natural
environment. Jackson Creek is the city’s largest subwaEllen Campbell is the
Founder and Director
of Rain It In.
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
Peterborough Ontario, Canada
tershed and flows into Little Lake, which sits right in the
heart of downtown and is a key spot for recreation and
community events.
Unfortunately, both Jackson Creek and Little Lake
are facing serious challenges—erosion, declining water
quality, and pollution—and climate change is only
making things worse. Issues like sediment buildup, high
phosphorus and nitrogen levels, and algae blooms have
even led to beach closures and raised concerns about
local ecosystems and drinking water.
So the challenge for students was: What can the City
of Peterborough do to improve the health of Jackson
Creek and Little Lake through restoration, better public
access, and policy improvements? It was a real-world issue, and we were eager to see what creative and practical
solutions students would bring forward.
WATER C AN ADA • JULY/AUGUS T 2025
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