WCW26

EPCOR Water Services owns and operates over 240 stormwater management facilities in the City of Edmonton and has been undertaking various initiatives to improve the safety of these facilities - in particular wet ponds. In 2017, EPCOR completed an initial safety review which included a jurisdictional review of existing SWMF safety practices, an assessment of gaps between EPCOR's SWMF safety standards and those of other jurisdictions, and identification of improvements to EPCOR SWMF standards. In 2019, Stantec conducted field inspections of all of EPCOR's wet ponds and completed risk assessments and identification of safety deficiencies to prioritize which sites required immediate attention. Since this field program, EPCOR has continued to refine their risk assessments of these facilities and has commenced design and construction efforts with Stantec on 10 wet ponds throughout Edmonton.  
A challenging aspect of wet pond safety is balancing the need for access to the pond for maintenance/inspections, visibility around the shoreline, and barriers for public access (which often inhibit maintenance access & visibility). EPCOR and Stantec have been developing a vegetative barrier approach using plant species that complement the existing vegetation, provide deterrents to for public access, and include view-corridors for maintenance and operations purposes. Surveys were used to collect resident feedback on a variety of topics including existing use of the space around the wet ponds, proposed plant species, and reiterating the importance of safety around these stormwater facilities. 
This presentation will share the story of assessment, risk identification, public consultation, and design & construction efforts which were undertaken (and continue to be pursued) to improve safety at EPCOR's wet ponds.