University of Alberta
OP-23: Stormwater Management

NEW DEVELOPMENT: The Long Range Development Plans for the University of Alberta encompasses North Campus, South Campus, Michener Park and Campus Saint-Jean. The LRDP identifies where on-site stormwater management will be necessary and where existing facilities can be utilized; it states that stormwater management facilities will be developed as warranted and will be staged incrementally to minimize servicing costs. Additionally, wherever possible, the stormwater management system will be connected to the open space system. Accompanying the LRDP are sector plans that further detail specific strategies and methods that will be used to address stormwater management, such as: - aquatic vegetation and designed ecosystems in naturalized stormwater management facilities - rainwater collection systems - xeriscaping - grey water systems, and - rooftop gardens/vegetated roofs There is a separate LRDP for Augustana Campus (Augustana LRDP, 2005), and in 2008 Focus Corporation developed a Stormwater Management Plan for Augustana Campus to accompany the Augustana LRDP. The Augustana Campus Stormwater Management Plan provides a framework for development to the year 2015. The proposed stormwater management concept includes a wet Storm Water Management Facility (SWMF) located at the downstream end of the ravine, a dry pond that will service the campus catchment draining to 46th Avenue, and two dry ponds for the residence parking lot expansion draining to the CN Railway ditch. A drainage swale proposed for the west side of the campus will intercept and direct runoff to the ravine SWMF. The plan also covers erosion issues. CURRENT PRACTICES: Initiatives already in place include the following, with more detail in the sections below: - a vegetated roof - retention ponds - stone swales - vegetated swales - underground cisterns - rain barrels in our Community Gardens - permeable hard surfacing - rainwater harvesting - bioswales

The Edmonton Clinic Health Academy features a vegetated roof that is accessible to building occupants and includes chairs and tables to promote its use as a gathering space.

There are several locations on North Campus that have porous paving installed: - The walkway to the East Pool - Surrounding some elm trees near the Education Building. - The East Campus residential area incorporates permeable pavers in the 88 Avenue pathway and the future 89 Avenue pedestrian/bicycle corridor will also utilize permeable pavers. - New landscaping at the Research Transfer Facility incorporates permeable pavers in the fire lane. It should be noted that due to our northern climate, there are issues around freezing and thawing that prevent this technology from being completely successful, so its use is limited.

Augustana has three retention ponds on campus: one pond is situated north of parking lot P3, next to the Athletic field; one is situated just south of the parking lot for the Ravine Dorm complex; the third is just east of that same parking lot. The Devonian Garden, an off-campus site, has a retention pond as well. In addition, due to serious flooding of residential properties adjacent to the University of Alberta South Campus in 2006, the City of Edmonton and the University of Alberta negotiated to build the Malmo Plains Stormwater Management Pond in the southeast corner of South Campus in 2010. This wetland storm facility is designed for a 1:100 year storm event and has the capacity to store 15,000 cubic meters of water (6,000 cubic meters of water storage for university lands and 9,000 cubic meters of surge alleviation for the city’s storm system). It uses berms and weeping tile for water conveyance.

On the north side of the Auxiliary Building at Augustana Campus, a stone swale collects storm water and directs it into the natural ravine/creek area that runs through the campus. An additional stone swale is planned for the exterior of the renovated Agriculture Forestry building greenhouse.

All new landscaping at Augustana Campus has incorporated grass swales directing stormwater into an underground cistern. A vegetated swale was incorporated into the renovation of the Medical Isotope and Cyclotron Facility (MICF).

Augustana Campus installed a 1,500 gallon underground cistern that collects water from the grass swales, which is then used to water flower beds, bushes and trees on campus. There are also two 250 gallon tanks that collect the runoff from the Facilities Building, with the water then being used for irrigation purposes. On North Campus, Triffo Hall collects rainwater in a below-grade storage tank system and uses it for toilet flushing to reduce potable water use. On North Campus and Campus Saint-Jean, the Campus Community Gardens use rainwater collected in rain barrels for the majority of their irrigation needs. On South Campus, an underground rainwater retention tank was built into the renovation of the Medical Isotope and Cyclotron Facility (MICF); water collected in this underground tank is used for irrigation of grounds at MICF. An additional cistern was installed on North Campus to capture and store water used in annual fire pump testing to be later used for irrigation. Please see our Innovation Credits for more information on this unique system.

Additional Responsible Parties: NORTH CAMPUS Name: Ray Dumouchel Department: Facilities and Operations Position: Associate Director, Buildings and Grounds Services Name: Pat Jansen Department: Facilities and Operations Position: Associate Vice President, Planning & Project Delivery Name: Tom McLean Department: Facilities and Operations Position: Manager Landscape Services, Buildings & Ground Services AUGUSTANA CAMPUS Name: Chris Blades Department: Facilities & Operations Position: Facilities Manager