Town of Okotoks Case Study

Key Information

TitleLiving Soil Filtration Project
Organization(s)The Town of Okotoks in partnership with Source 2 Source Environmental Design, Bow River Basin Council, City of Calgary and the Universities of Calgary and Victoria
Water quality issues
  • Urban stormwater quality
  • Nutrients and harmful substance loading to natural water bodies
  • Riparian ecosystem health
Location/placeThe Town of Okotoks – adjacent to the Environmental Education Centre
SectorMunicipal – 2018 winner in the water category of Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) Sustainable Communities Awards
Funding sourcesWatershed Restoration and Resilience Program (WRRP) and others
Timeframe2014 – present (ongoing)
Project costInitial funding from the Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program (WRRP) was $125,000. With the addition of research partners and more stakeholders the funding at the site has reached approximately $1.2 million. 

Project Description

The Town of Okotoks has an existing public works yard and wastewater treatment plant immediately adjacent to the Sheep River. In keeping with their long-standing leadership in sustainable design, the Town sought a riparian bioretention installation to serve as the main stormwater management facility for this site. Different soils and plants in the wetland (bioretention installation) capture and filter stormwater to increase the quality of runoff that is eventually released to the Sheep River. The installation, like natural wetlands, also acts as a buffer to reduce risks of flood and drought.

Project Benefits and Outcomes

  • Improve quality of stormwater entering the Sheep River by removing excess nutrients and other potentially harmful substances
  • Moderate risks of extreme weather events like flood and drought
  • Provide valuable research opportunities for bioretention in cold climates

Issue Background

Conventional flood mitigation techniques often address a limited set of the consequences of a flood, whereas absorbent landscapes are designed to enhance basic processes at their source.  The Source 2 Source (S2S) vision is to utilize the hydrological functionality of plants and permeable soils to establish self-sustaining riparian systems that would beneficially alter site scale water cycling, and reduce the risks of flood and drought. Vegetated bio-retention features are capable of capturing, storing, and gradually releasing water, all of which cumulatively prevents rapid fluctuations in surface water and lessens frequency and severity of flood and drought occurrences.  Correctly designed, such features also have many ancillary benefits such as nutrient and contaminant capture, biodiversity, and natural aesthetics.

Figure 1. Absorbent riparian buffer and the associated water behaviour. Image source: Bow River Basin Council
Figure 1. Absorbent riparian buffer and the associated water behaviour. Image source: Bow River Basin Council

There was a need to manage stormwater runoff from a public works yard and wastewater treatment plant adjacent to the Sheep River, as well as interest from the research community to investigate processes and interactions in riparian bioretention. This initiative was created to address both water quality and quantity concerns as well as provide valuable information that can be used for future initiatives like this one.  

Photos

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Figure 2. Extent of development and bioretention area. Image source: Bow River Basin Council

 
 
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Figure 3. Construction of the main bioretention area – creating berms to structure run-off flow. Image source: Bow River Basin Council

 
 

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Figure 4. Seeding of the main bioretention area – hand application, followed by furrowing with light machinery. Image source: Bow River Basin Council

 
 

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Figure 5. View of Test Beds under Construction (June 27, 2016). Image source: Bow River Basin Council

 
 

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Ross Douglas

Board Member

Ross has extensive executive experience in Operations, Governance, Information Technology and Strategy at the board and senior management level including Mancal Corporation, Mancal Energy, Highridge Exploration and Atlantis Resources. He has worked in Oil and Gas, Coal, Commercial Real Estate, Portfolio Management, Recreation, Retail and Water and Wastewater Treatment. His experience is also geographically diverse having overseen operations in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Additionally, he has been on the board of companies with operations in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Kazakhstan, and Russia. He has served on numerous Public, Private and Not for Profit Boards across a number of industries.

Ross has been active on several industry Boards and committees including the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and The Schulich School of Engineering Industry Advisory Council at the Schulich School of Engineering.

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Brian Mergelas, PhD, ICD.D

Board Member

Brian is a seasoned Cleantech entrepreneur with a proven history of successfully bringing complex water technologies to the market.   With over 25 years of experience, he has led various organizations to achieve significant milestones in the industry. 

Having started as the founding CEO of the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company (PPIC) and later taking the helm at the Water Technology Acceleration Project (WaterTAP), Brian’s entrepreneurial spirit has been instrumental in driving innovation and growth within the sector. 

He is an active investor in the cleantech sector and has served on many boards including the Ontario Clean Water Agency. 

Actively engaged in industry associations like AWWA, WEF, IWA, and ASCE, Brian enjoys collaborating with fellow professionals to promote advancements in the field. 

Brian holds an undergraduate degree and a PhD in Physics from Queen’s University, which has provided him with a solid technical foundation.   As a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, he brings valuable insights to corporate governance.