Stormwater

Basin Management

Stormwater refers to rainwater and melted snow that flows over roads, parking lots, lawns and other sites in urban areas. Stormwater management practices and overall stormwater management plans help to minimize the impact of this urban runoff flowing directly into our lakes and streams while ensuring the impact that stormwater places on our constructed ponds and drainage courses is mitigated through our best management processes and wetlands development.

Under natural conditions, stormwater is intercepted by vegetation and then absorbed into the ground and filtered and eventually replenishes aquifiers or flows into streams and rivers. Later, part of it is returned to the atmosphere in the form of evapotranspiration. In urbanized area, however, impervious surfaces such as roads and roofs prevent precipitation from naturally soaking into the ground. In Blackfalds, to mitigate the undesirable impacts of urbanization on watercourses and associated infrastructure, stormwater management plans and practices are implemented to preserve the natural hydrologic balance in newly developing areas and re-establish it, wherever possible, in already developed areas.

Our Northwest and East Area Stormwater Management Plans and existing stormwater guidelines are designed to protect and enhance quality of stormwater discharged to lakes and streams. To accomplish this, new developments not only have to install the traditional stormwater ponds and pipes for the subdivision, but also have to share in the Town's development of constructed wetlands, bioswales and conveyance systems which are designed and built to Alberta Environment and Parks best management practices for stormwater systems. All these aspects help reduce the volume and frequency of urban area stormwater impacts to our downstream waterbodies.