Stormwater management master plan: July 2022 project update

What we’ve heard so far

On October 28, 2020, we invited Guelph residents to the first virtual open house for the stormwater management master plan to:

• Share information about what the master plan includes
• Help our community understand how Guelph’s stormwater management systems work
• Answer a survey and join a mapping activity to provide ideas for and experiences with stormwater management in Guelph
• Share the criteria we’ll use to make decisions and recommendations

More than 130 people visited the virtual open house and 20 people took the survey. Here’s what we heard:

• People said that stormwater runoff is a serious concern in Guelph. On a scale of 10, the average rating was 7.5, however, most people rated the seriousness at 8 or higher.
• People expressed a high level of concern about the environmental quality of our local streams and rivers. Most people rated their level of concern as eight or above, with 8.7 being the average rating.
• Most people (88 per cent) said they would support for road changes or improvements with ‘green’ stormwater features such as updated stormwater management ponds, new curb and gutter systems, bioswales, grassed channels and underground pipe systems.
• People indicated a personal willingness to implement solutions that could help reduce runoff from private property except installing a green roof. People were most willing to add roof downspout connections, use rain barrels or cisterns, plant trees and create rain gardens.

View the full engagement summary report.

Next steps

We’re evaluating options and identifying projects to make stormwater management in Guelph better. We’ll reach back out to the community again later this year (2022) to present our recommendations and get your feedback.