Saskatoon city council almost ready to unveil first flood control strategy project

It has been three years since Saskatoon city council approved a flood control strategy and it’s almost ready to be put into action.

The purpose of the project is to reduce flooding in some of the most dangerous areas for intense rainfalls that happen on rare occurrences.

This will result in fewer basement floodings to homes and businesses, as well as limiting road damage from the heavy rains going forward.

The plan is to build the project at W.W. Ashley District Park, which is located right behind Lathey Pool on Taylor Street. The area will still serve as a park, as well as a sports field moving forward.

“What we’ve done by dropping that level lower, and then tying in a number of the stormwater pipes from the area into that lower area, is it allows us to take up to a one- and 10-year storm, instead of that water backing up into people’s basements or flooding intersections,” Russ Munro, director of Saskatoon Water, explained on The Brent Loucks Show.

“It’s going to wind up in that park space, which means it won’t be useable, but the way it’s designed, it will drain in about 24 hours and the park will be useable again.”

Munro says it makes more sense to have a plan in place for when a large amount of rainfall hits the area.

“When we get these unfortunate events that do come up (every) one in 10 years, or sometimes more frequently, it will flood that area,” he said. “It will drain, and people can go back to using the park and we won’t have damage to people’s property.”

The site is expected to stay closed until the fall of 2022. Until then, the sod and seeds will take time to establish into the ground.

When it’s all said and done, Munro says there will be roughly five metres of a hole in the same area of the park. There will be a set of stairs for those wishing to gain access to the park area.

“(The staircase) provides some accessibility to get in for folks with unique mobility issues to still get down, and still have access to the park down in that lower space,” he said.

The area will now be able to hold 16,000 cubic metres of water, according to Munro.

Munro also said there’s a strong belief that many similar projects will come into play to help reduce large floods over the next five to 10 years.