HomeMy WebLinkAboutDSD-2021-021 - Stormwater Market Incentive ProgramREPORT TO:Community and Infrastructure Services Committee
DATE OF MEETING:February8, 2021
SUBMITTED BY:Claire Bennett, Corporate Sustainability Officer, x7322
PREPARED BY:Sarah Fries, Sustainability Office Associate, x7137
WARD(S) INVOLVED:All
nd
DATE OF REPORT:January 22, 2021
REPORT NO.:DSD-21-021
SUBJECT:Stormwater Market Incentive Program
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT staff proceed with the development of a Market Incentive Program to encourage
implementation of source-control stormwater management practices on private properties
and report back to Council with recommended program details by December 2021.
REPORT HIGHLIGHTS:
The purpose of this report is to inform council on the statusandproposed approachof a
KitchenerStormwater Market Incentive Program (MIP) for private properties.
The Stormwater Utility has allocated capital funds towards the development and implementation
of a MIP.
A comprehensive communication and engagement plan to INFORM, CONSULT, and
COLLABORATE will be developed.
This report supports Environmental Leadership through disaster mitigation and improvements
to water quality and private-property runoff into the municipal system;Environmental Leadership
by implementing elements of the Corporate Climate Action Plan;A Caring Community in
improving green spaces and improving air and water quality;and A Vibrant Economy by
supporting local economic development.
BACKGROUND:
Kitchener completed the 2016 Integrated Stormwater Management Master Plan (ISWM-MP), to
advance a -of-the-
that solving deficient stormwater infrastructure would need to be a joint effort among public and
private landowners since the majority of impervious surfaces generating stormwater run-off is
privately owned. One of the core projects includes the development and launch of a market-based
incentive for private landowners to install green infrastructure on their property to manage
stormwater at its source and reduce runoffinto the municipal stormwater system. A market-based
program is an important strategyto reduce flooding given that the majority of land in Kitchener is
owned privately.
Impacts from extreme precipitation eventsare substantial and wide-ranging, from surface water
flooding and heavy rainfall overloading the capacity of the drainage systemto increasing wind events
and temperatures hovering around zero in winter months.Regional climate impact studies on risk
and vulnerability show total annual precipitationis projected to increase 4-6% by the 2020s and 8-
*** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. ***
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12% in the 2050s-2080s, with a 20% intensification of rainfall events. Studies show that Kitchener
is particularly vulnerable to flooding given its highly urbanized built formandis one of the largest
urban and designated growth areas in Canada which alsorelies primarily on ground water (80%)for
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drinking water.
Presently, 75% of the City of Kitchener has no stormwater controlsandmore than half of this land
area isprivately-owned. As such,increasing the uptake of SCMson private property remains a
significant goal for stormwater management (SWM)programming. Through a market incentive
program, the City will leverage the market to shift behaviour and solutions towards resilient land
management practicesthat safeguard landowner assets against costly disaster responses, including
.
decreases.
Stormwater Credit program
The existingStormwaterCreditprogram will continue to operate as a supporting program within the
overall approach.Due to itslimited financial benefitto property owners,the uptake has been leveling
off and has not been expansive. As of 2020, 5%(4,317out of 78,848)of residential customers and
5%(125out of2,498) of non-residential customers implemented some on-site measures to reduce
stormwater runoff and pollutant loadings.
REPORT:
Market Incentive Program (MIP):AMarket-based Strategy
The MIP would deliver incentive through direct financial contribution towards amarket-supplierto
supplement added cost in going beyond traditional lot-level infrastructure solutions to implementing
SCMs (e.g., bioswales, porous pavers, dry riverbeds, increased vegetative cover, etc.) on privately
held property.
Guided by the ISWM-MP, the objective for a market-based approach is toprovide stimulus to
residents and local industry in supporting home and business expenses and economic development
during a time of heightened impacts from COVID-19 and climate change though a City-wide SWM
network. Following are some core goals:
Secure uptake of SCMs by private property ownersto help mitigate the immediate and long-
term effects of climate change;
Create adata driven program that leverages existing demographic data and flood mapping
for priority-based programming based on risk and accessibility (i.e. income and ability levels);
Integrate and coordinate related organizational policy and standards to improve shared
capacity;
Further diversify economic development through local partnerships, training and leadership;
Establish a City-wide system of integratedcentralized and distributed green and grey
stormwater infrastructure to achieve SWM goals at thegreatest cost-efficiency;and,
Achieve sustained transformation of the marketplace,wherein stormwaterrunoffreduction,
interactive community map to showcase progress and best practices.
1
Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change & University of Waterloo (2015). Localized Climate Projections for Waterloo Region.
https://uwaterloo.ca/climate-centre/sites/ca.climate-
centre/files/uploads/files/waterloo_region_climate_projections_final_full_report_dec2015.pdf
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Service Provider Delivery Mechanism
Market-based programming leveragesindustry service and product providers as delivery agents.
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Landscaping related sectors have particular prominence aslarge, established and trustedproviders
who are regularly sought out and paid for by end-users. As a result, the industrygainsnew training
and services offeringsandresidents gain home beautification, supportand knowledge, which all
works tomagnifyits SWM and climate
change action objectives.
Designing an effective market-based program requires a foundationthat represents internal city
standards and procedures and a clear understandingofthe specific target audiences and the
provider marketplace (including landscape designers,driveway installers,landscapers, roofing and
waterproofing contractors, nurseryand garden centres, hardwarestoresand specialty retailers) that
servicesthem.The program will realize decliningstaffparticipation and costs over time as the
marketplace takes over (versus broad-based programs that require continued influx of City
resources to sustain the initiatives).
Priority Subwatersheds
The City has access to high-quality data through Sanitary and Stormwater Utilities, Parks and
Cemeteries and Geospatial Data and Analytics (GDA), ensuring the City is well positioned to develop
a data-driven, purpose-based MIP that strategically targets the areas of highest need. Forreducing
stormwater runoff, the market-based approach proposes to focus on private property owners in
highly urbanized subwatersheds where public property suitable for SCMs is limitedand land is
predominately privately owned.
TheISWM-Implementation Plan (2016) applied evaluation criteria (e.g., runoff and flood
mitigation, water quality, stream health, etc.) to order recommended undertakings based on priority
subwatersheds,categorized as Priority 1 through 4. Priority 1subwatersheds are highly urbanized
and require a composite of SWM actions to realize pollution prevention, flood mitigation, source
water protection, sediment and erosion control objectives. Subsequent hydrologic modeling efforts
refined and identified the top five areas (below) in the City requiring a suiteof SCMs, with an
emphasis on mitigation of runoff and flooding. With additional flooding-specific modeling recently
completed, the City will be able to further focus the program towards areas experiencing the most
significant impacts.
SubwatershedRanking
UpperSchneider
1
Creek
Montgomery Creek2
Shoemaker Creek3
Sandrock Creek4
Voisin Creek5
Α
Market research conducted with single-family homeowners, service and product providers, specifically gardencentres
Research conducted byFreeman Associates for Halton Region (2005), Toronto Region Conservation Authority (2006),
City of Mississauga (2008), and the City of Toronto(2009), Peel Region (2012, 2017), Credit Valley Conservation (2015),
City of Kitchener (2016), York Region (2017), and City of Waterloo (2019).
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Strategic Joint Ventures
Forming strategic joint ventures leverages expertise, provides economies of scale, enables
enhanced access to businesses,and identifies synergistic opportunities to deliver a cohesive
initiative with consistent and impactful marketing and promotion.
Internally, integrated management and implementation of ISWM-MP projects achieves the strategic
objectives of the City with greater impact and improved efficacy at lower cost than discrete
implementation.Internal alignment predominately includes Parks & Cemeteries and Geospatial Data
and Analytics, with collaboration opportunities withthe Neighbourhood Development Office and
Economic Development.
Externally, city staff will maintain the ongoing market incentive strategic joint venture with the City of
Waterloo and will engage other area municipalities and energy utilities who have launched similar
programs to builda comprehensive energy-water-stormwater demand-side management program.
Area service providers including contractors, designers, environmental non-profits, and horticultural
depots will be leveraged for install, administrative, promotional and engagement activities related to
the MIP. Staff will continue to explore opportunities for partnership with municipalities that have
implemented similar programming. The Regions of York and Peel, in partnership with Landscape
see Kitchener Utilities MIPwebpage for more information). The Fusion
program has been highly successful, and the groups are keen on expanding the program to other
jurisdictions,which would provide significant foundational materials, expertise and framework for
implementation and delivery of a made-in-Kitchener MIP.
The Opportunity: City Building & Sustainability
The programcomplementsother strategic work happening at the City, including urban forestry, road
and right-of-way improvements and park enhancements, DMAF work, and new trail and bike path
construction.In addition to the capital and operating efficienciesfrom leveraging economies of scale,
the directand indirect socialandenvironmental opportunities and impacts will be captured as part
of the work.The MIP supports urbanbeautification,quality of life,economic diversity, and
environmental sustainability for Kitchener residents. Thetransformativeapproachwillwork to ensure
the City meets SWM targets despite intensification of development, expanding upstream
urbanization,and increasing weather variability due to climate change.
Urban Beautification and Quality of Life
Investment in SWM and green infrastructure result in improvements of natural-based aesthetic,
positive health outcomes from improved air and water quality,enhanced recreational opportunities
and improved health of biodiversity. SWMprovides safeguardsagainst the negative impacts of
current and future flooding and extreme weather, including associated health and safety cases,
damage and disruption to property and infrastructure, erosion of streambanks and impairment of
water quality.
Economic Development & Diversity
While protecting owner assets and minimizing disruptions, a market approach supports residents
and businesses during a time of heightened need due to COVID-19 and climate change.
Compared to grey infrastructure, green infrastructure:
Provides a more affordable approach to SWM for the City and residents;
Providesmore accessible opportunities for local employment and business; and
Is more operating intensive and so supports job creation and circulatingmore investment
dollars within the local economy while improving property values.
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Environmental Sustainability
In addition to SWM, the MIPdirectlysupportsexisting City environmental initiatives:
Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy:By encouraging trees as a storm control, aco-benefit
of the MIPincludes contribution toincreasing the urban tree canopywhileproviding at-source
SWMimprovements, including greater maintenance of assets.
Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation: Kitchener has committed to corporate and
regionalclimate change adaptation and mitigationplans.Green infrastructure supports:
o Adaptationenhanced adaptability and resiliency to extreme weather,improved
water and air quality, enhanced habitat and biodiversity for native species, and
reduced heat island effect,
o Mitigationcarbon sequestration,reduced/avoided emissions fromgrey
infrastructure.
Project Implementation
Timeline and milestones overview
TimelineMilestones
Completed to date
Data collection through extensive stormwater, urban forestry, and
GDA data
Research and benchmarking of best practices across
municipalities
Partnershipcreation; exploration ofstrategic joint ventures
opportunities; retained expert consultant to developroad map for
MIP development
February 2021
Program Overview to Council
February +
Program development
June 2021
Identification of preferred implementation plan and evaluation
criteria
Presentation to Corporate Leadership Team
September 2021
Program implementation blueprint, including selection of preferred
implementation plan and research findings
Presentation to Council
Remainder of 2021 and
Communications material development and implementation
Q1 (2022)
Service provider training
Q2 2022
Program launch via providers; public access to funding
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This report supports:
Environmental Leadership by implementing elements of the Corporate Climate Action Plan,
Environmental Leadership by supporting the goals of the Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy
A Vibrant Economy by supporting local economic development.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
-year funding for the program, as outlined in the
10-year capital budget forecast.The primary use of funding will be for the storm-control infrastructure
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on private lands, with a portion of funding going towards internal program administration. Later in
2021, the recommended program will pe presented to council for consideration
The costs to develop the program in 2021 are estimated to be $285,000 for staff time associated
with program development and any technical studies required develop the program. Funding has
been allocated for this work in the approved capital budget.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
A suiteof tactics to INFORM, CONSULT, and COLLABORATE will be establishedand will include:
Consultation withlocal experts, service providers,community members in priority subwatersheds,
City staff (in particular those from Sustainability Office, SSU, Planning, Engineering and Geospatial
Data & Analytics), Council,the and Inclusionwilloccur in
2021 to develop the program.
INFORM
council / committee meeting.
PREVIOUS REPORTS/AUTHORITIES:
INS-16-047 Stormwater Management Master Plan Final Report
INS 12-025 Stormwater Credit Policy Public Consultation Follow-up
INS 12-020 Stormwater Credit Program
INS 12-001 Stormwater Credit Program
APPROVED BY: Denise McGoldrick, General Manager, Infrastructure Services
Justin Readman, General Manager, Development Services
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