Why Do We Need Stormwater Management Ponds in Ontario?

Stormwater management ponds are designed specifically to collect runoff from the local storm sewer system. A stormwater management pond will temporarily hold this excess water, treat the water to remove pollutants, then release it back into the waterways.

Without managing stormwater ponds effectively, floods and other issues could arise, causing havoc and costing the local municipality millions of dollars in repairs and damages.

Preventing stormwater runoff and other runoffs from impacting your city requires careful management of your stormwater ponds as part of a larger stormwater management effort.

Types of Stormwater Ponds

Stormwater management ponds provide a lot of useful benefits to your city.

They can reduce flooding, control erosion by limiting the amount of stormwater that outflows into nearby creeks and rivers, and improve water quality

There are two types of stormwater ponds. 

Wet Ponds

Wet ponds hold water all the time and are designed to collect and store runoff from rain and melted snow. This allows dirt, sand, silt and other solids in the runoff to settle to the bottom of the pond, which improves the quality of water released back into creeks and rivers downstream.

Dry Ponds

Dry ponds feature an additional “flow balancing system,” which directs the flow of stormwater runoff through different cells. These cells help to support the settlement process and clean the runoff before it is released back into lakes, rivers, etc.

How Civica Can Help with Stormwater Management in Ontario?

As populations grow and development spreads, there can be consequences upstream and downstream of developed areas, such as reduced water quality, increased flooding, and damage due to erosion.

At Civica, our highly skilled team have experience working on pond and wetland monitoring and condition assessment, stormwater management facility inspections, water quantity and quality monitoring, low impact development (LID) design, drainage modelling and design and construction administration. In short, Civica provides holistic solutions to stormwater management issues.

Civica’s watershed studies provide Conservation Authorities and Municipalities with the information they need to protect existing landowners and the sensitive natural features found in our watersheds. These studies provide guidelines for regulating flooding, mitigating erosion, and protecting water quality and natural features within a watershed.

Our consulting services provide many benefits, including:

• Understanding flood risk before you start planning your projects to save time and money
• Leverage Civica’s proprietary software tools to build large models quickly and accurately
• Get the highest quality studies delivered on time and on budget
• Our policy of meeting with conservation authority staff throughout the monitoring and modeling process results in faster review times and less revisions, providing a timelier approval

Contact us today for a free consultation.