Integrated Stormwater Management Program - District of Central Saanich

The District of Central Saanich will develop an Integrated Storm Water Management Program (ISWMP) to effectively manage future development and to minimize negative environmental impacts within the District’s three major watershed areas. The ISWMP will embrace the current philosophy of rainfall being considered as a valuable resource to be used to enhance a number of social values, along with reducing environmental impacts. The Water Balance Modeling tool will be used evaluate the performance of a number of different site scenarios based on historic information available from regional rainfall records and from the type of surface treatment that either exists or is proposed for specific land areas (i.e., green roofs, permeable surface covers, restorative vegetation). District engineering staff will evaluate the costs of the various storm water management scenarios and estimate the water quality improvements resulting from the potential reductions in environmental contaminants. It is estimated that the ISWMP approach will result in a reduction of local surface runoff by up to 80 per cent in some targeted areas and generate an overall improvement to local water quality due to natural infiltration. It will also reduce the depletion of the water table, improve wildlife habitat and improve the volume of water available for agricultural and domestic requirements.