Investigation to Support Integrated Water Resources Management in Canadian Municipalities

Confronted with an array of water management-related challenges, Canadian municipal water managers are beginning to appreciate the myriad of benefits to integrating approaches to municipal water management. The ‘Water Utility Risk Integration Matrix’ was developed to communicate the common risks that affect multiple water systems and to lead users to applicable guidance information. To further explore catchment level integrated water management, two hydrologic/hydraulic models were developed for small catchments in southern Ontario. Event-based design storms were applied to the first model to evaluate the flood risk implications of development within the catchment. This analysis considers both traditional and emerging approaches to stormwater management under a changing climate. The latter model was developed to demonstrate the impact of urban growth on the annual hydrologic cycle through use of continuous precipitation modelling. Traditional versus emerging approaches to stormwater management were again contrasted in this model.