#410 Onward: Flood Control

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Underwater in the Capital

What Ottawa’s Next City Council Must Do About Extreme Weather - " dig a ditch, put in a culvert"

When torrential rain hit Ottawa this summer—dropping more than 100 millimetres of water in mere hours—the result was entirely predictable, and devastating.

Basements across the west end flooded. Low-lying sections of Highway 417 transformed into canals. Essential infrastructure, including the O-Train Stage 2 line at Moodie Station, suffered severe ballast washouts. From the 2018 and 2019 spring freshet floods to the May 2022 Derecho, the severe storms of recent years, and the record-breaking downpours of summer 2026, Ottawa is living the reality of a warming atmosphere.

The upcoming municipal council faces a fundamental challenge: Ottawa’s 1960s-era storm drainage infrastructure was engineered for a climate that no longer exists. If the next Mayor and City Council want to prevent the capital from grinding to a halt with every severe summer storm, they must execute a clear, pragmatic blueprint over the 2026–2030 term.

1. Rapid Infrastructure Upgrades & Maintenance

Our municipal storm mains and highway culverts were built to withstand 1-in-25 or 1-in-50-year events. When a 1-in-200-year storm hits, the system surcharges, creating hydraulic pressure that backs up through private floor drains and floods surface low points.

Fix the Bottlenecks

• Upgrade surcharged storm trunks: Accelerate the replacement and enlargement of aging 1960s storm sewers and culverts in high-vulnerability basins—particularly the Maitland, Pinecrest, and Greenbank corridors near Highway 417—to meet modern 100-year storm intensity standards.
• Harden critical transit corridors: Install heavy-duty backup power and expanded retention tanks at key transit nodes, including the O-Train Stage 2 West extension (Moodie and Bayshore stations), to prevent track ballast washouts during torrential downpours. Transit reliability must be non-negotiable.
• Proactive culvert and creek maintenance: Fund continuous dredging and debris clearance along urban outfall tributaries such as Stillwater Creek, Graham Creek,