City of Ottawa wants to make more households better at preventing storm water from going to rivers

As the city deals with more extreme weather events like tornadoes and flash flooding, a committee will debate this month on expanding a pilot project that gives financial incentives to retrofit homes to more neighborhoods.

Rain Ready Ottawa is a pilot program that helps homeowners make changes to their property to reduce the harmful impacts of rainwater runoff. Rebates of up to $5,000 are available to help install infrastructure that manages rainwater where it falls.

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"The pilot's been running really well. We have it in the east end and also in the southwest end and there has been lots of interest," said Coun. Matt Luloff, who sits on the city's environment committee. "I think that we had targeted about 103 different projects. It's been more than double that. So very, very exciting. It's a great program that helps people to divert rainwater on their properties and have it actually absorb on their properties rather than running into creeks and rivers and streams, which can lead to closing beaches."

Right now, the program exists in two neighbourhoods, including one in the east and one in the west end of the city.

"So, you'll have your primary area, which is very similar to where the pilot project has been running; and then a larger expanded secondary area. So areas through that, and the downtown core as well. We've got lots of rivers, streams and beaches across the city. So it's important to ensure that we're handling our rainwater onsite rather than taking pollutants into the river or into these streams, and creeks, it'll lead to less beach closure days and better enjoyment of our natural habitats around the city," says Luloff.

According to the city, most buildings, streets and parking lots in urban areas don't absorb rain well, therefore it ends up in storm sewers that go into streams and rivers, along with many pollutants that can cause issues like poor water quality, risks of flooding, and beach closures.

Luloff says this program will help mitigate the impact of flooding during extreme weather events. "The more water that we can absorb within the city on our properties, the better off that we're going to be during these larger events."

According to the city's website, Rain Ready Ottawa offers rebates for five practices:

1. Downspout redirection (Up to $1,000)
2. Rain garden installation (Up to $2,500)
3. Soakway pit installation (Up to $2,500)
4. Permeable pavements (Up to $5,000)
5. Certified landscape designs ($500)

For complete information on how rebates are calculated and specific project requirements, you can visit the City of Ottawa's website.