TRACK 1, DAY 1
Building Up Resilience for Existing Drainage Networks: Approaches with Water Squares and Sponge Parks in Montreal (QC)
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 | 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. | Hall A
ABSTRACT
Recent large scale flooding events for the Montreal area have highlighted the fact that the whole approach of retrofitting existing areas had to be reviewed to increase the performance of the drainage systems in place.
Climate change has definitely contributed to increase the number and severity of extreme rainfall events and, as a complete reconstruction of the system can not be considered, a new approach is necessary to increase the resilience.
This new approach, with a detailed look at the major system for the flow paths on the streets and use of existing parks or areas in depression to develop water squares or modified parks with additional retention and infiltration capacities, has been developed in recent years in the Montreal area.
Resilient parks, also known as sponge parks, are used to receive runoff and retain it temporarily to reduce the risk of water accumulation in the streets during heavy rainfall.
The characteristics of a resilient park are very similar to those of any other park, except that the park is developed in a depression.
This means that the park is built at a lower level than the adjacent streets. Thus, during violent storms and heavy rains, water from the surrounding streets can be redirected to the park to relieve the sewer networks.
The principle of the resilient park is based on the idea of choosing to flood a specific space to prevent water from accumulating on the street and flooding buildings. We choose the flooded areas, rather than suffer from the floods. More than 30 parks are planned in Montreal for the upcoming years with an aggressive development schedule.
The global approach used to retrofit existing areas with water squares or sponge parks is first discussed in the presentation.
After a general background information on what international projects inspired the approach (in Rotterdam, Netherlands, particularly), four (4) case studies are thereafter presented, with places already developed and built and other still in planning.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Gilles Rivard, Lasalle-NHC
Gilles Rivard is a Principal and Corporate Lead Urban Hydrology at Lasalle, with over 35 years of experience in the fields of hydrological studies, urban networks modelling, water resources, and glaciological studies.
Currently, he specializes in stormwater management and has published extensively on the subject, including as the author of the 2011 Quebec Stormwater Management Guidelines.
He has managed numerous projects involving development of master plans for sewer and waterworks systems, as well as hydraulic and hydrologic analyses for bridges, floodplain management, and dams.
He is also involved in committees at the national and international levels dealing with low impact development, water resources management, and flooding risk assessment.