As one of the oldest cities in Western Canada, Winnipeg has a rich and illustrious history that is represented by many surviving historic sites, structures and buildings recognized at municipal, provincial and national levels. Over time, the City has developed a municipal heritage program that promotes the conservation of significant heritage sites.

Stormwater retention basins (SRBs) have been used in the City of Winnipeg since the early 1960s. The city and their land developers were in fact some of the earliest adopters of this technology. Early acceptance was based primarily on necessity as opposed aesthetics although it was recognized that retention basins did add to the visual appeal. The main reason why retention basins proliferated was because the land adjacent to our rivers and streams, which had previously afforded a cheap and easy drainage outlet, had by the 1960s, been exhausted. Our flat prairie landscape also made it very expensive to extend these land drainage systems further afield using conventional land drainage pipes.

Constructed Wetland Royalwood Subdivision Winnipeg (credit Ladco Co. Ltd.)

Winnipeg's heritage buildings do much to define the character of the City.  Do you have a favourite?

The old saying “Form over Function” does not need to apply when talking about storm water management. In our previous blog we talked about green roofs and blue roofs, which are examples of source controls used in storm water management. Source controls are usually small installations dispersed throughout the watershed. They are known by various terms including “green infrastructure”, “low impact development (LID)”, “best management practices (BMPs)” and “water sensitive urban design (WSUD)”. Some of these terms refer to other technologies as well, but they all include source control stormwater management within their mix.

Vegetated Swale (credit USEPA Green Infrastructure)

Jeff Fisher, founder of Elite Performance Centres wants to know what you think: How can we plan our city to promote healthy living?