Sustainable Stormwater Management using Green Infrastructure for Parking Lot Design in Kitchener and Waterloo Region

Abstract

Urbanization growth resulting in increasing the amount of runoff caused by land use change has become a major challenge for water management and water security worldwide. Along with rapid urbanization, climate change has been straining traditional water resources and degrading the environment too. With Canada facing rapid change in climate, the Region of Waterloo and Kitchener is likely to face more rainfall and rise in temperature in the future, hence a more sustainable use of land and water is a necessity. New land development methods and engineering should be proposed to minimize these adverse impacts on the environment and local ecology. Low impact development is considered as such an innovative methodology and engineering system. This research project takes a commercial parking lot in the Kitchener-Waterloo Region and proposes a cost-effective, sustainable stormwater management redesign to mitigate the problems of climate change through social, economic and aesthetic interventions utilizing low impact development principles. The proposed redesign demonstrates that low impact development interventions can help reduce stormwater runoff in an urban area; be economically affordable relative to ‘business as usual’ infrastructures; add social benefits; preserve environmental integrity; and enhance ecosystem services. Furthermore, implementing such interventions in that area will help the municipality to achieve sustainable development goals 11, 6, and 13.