Rain City Strategy: A Green Approach to the Future on the Wet Coast

Sourced from Vancouver is Awesome

As Vancouver enters an uncertain summer, what better time to talk about every Vancouverites’ favourite subject. No, not The English Bay barge, the rain.

Some climate predictions have the annual rainfall in British Columbia rising by 6 per cent over the next twenty-eight years. The implications are stark: flooding, sewer overflow, and increased water pollution. The IPCC Sixth assessment says an increase in extreme precipitation for our region is “very likely.” Good thing then that the City of Vancouver has embraced Green Rainwater Infrastructure (GRI).

Think of GRI as a means of incorporating nature to solve water-related problems caused by rain. Moreover, GRI improves water quality, enhances biodiversity, and creates ecological habitats. GRI should not be confused with grey infrastructure, the antiquated system of pipes, treatment plants, and reservoirs that has long been the method of managing water resources. Rainwater management requires a holistic approach involving GRI, land use and, yes, those old pipes.

GRI is central to the COV’s Rain City strategy, a long-term plan to turn Vancouver into a “water sensitive” city. The strategy shows a vision for a future where the city has been “reimagined” in its design to “embrace rainwater as a valued resource [for] communities and natural ecosystems.” To do this, the strategy aims to remove pollutants from captured rainwater, increase porous land, limit the volume of rainwater getting into the pipe system, “harvest” rainwater, and increase green spaces. The end goal: Capture and clean 90 per cent of our average rainfall, and manage 40 per cent of runoff from impervious areas by 2050.

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