Vernon takes in depth look at storm water management

The City of Vernon has released a new video to discuss the importance of storm water management and highlight some of the initiatives occurring across the city and the North Okanagan.

“Storm water is the name given to rain and melted snow when it flows along the ground,” Kirn Dhillon, Manager, Infrastructure said. “The water usually flows through a system of pipes and culverts before making its way into streams and eventually into our lakes. As our community grows and the climate continues to change, storm water management has become one of Vernon’s key areas of focus when planning for growth while also protecting the natural environment as we navigate the impacts of climate change.”

“A lot is happening around storm water management in Vernon,” Dhillon said. “What’s really exciting though, is that all of us can help manage storm water together to help protect the environment and our community as a whole.”

At home, we can use rainwater collection barrels to water our gardens, channel drainage into landscaping, and reduce hard surfaces so less water flows over land and into the city’s storm system. As new developments are planned, the city is focused on making sure they are designed to work with natural drainage paths, and conversations are taking place about what can be done to restore natural drainage paths for existing neighbourhoods.

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The city recently won a Canadian Federation of Municipalities Sustainable Community Award for “Asset Management” for the cities drainage infrastructure prioritization plan.

Using a triple-bottom-line approach to identify environmental, economic and social impacts, Vernon completed a detailed assessment of its drainage infrastructure to identify storm water drains needing maintenance or replacement to protect from future flooding.

The city applied a climate vulnerability lens to understand the impacts of climate change on their drainage assets and created a prioritized list of projects from those at greatest risk.