Foster and Kennedy-Burnett Stormwater Management Facilities

Environmental Assessment, Preliminary and Detailed Design

The South Nepean Urban Area has been undergoing significant development and urbanization since the mid 1990’s. To plan for this, the former City of Nepean and the new City of Ottawa have undertaken planning studies to address how the subwatershed will be managed considering this great change. Two studies completed that addressed both Master Servicing and Subwatershed Planning were the South Nepean Urban Area – Master Servicing Study ESR and the Jock River Reach One Subwatershed Study. Both of these studies recommended a stormwater management plan to address both the existing and future lands in the South Nepean Urban Area.

This project addresses the implementation of recommendations made for the lands North of the Jock River, that fall within reach 1. Generally the study area encompasses part of the Barrhaven Community north of the Jock River, west of Greenbank Road and east of Highway 416. The key environmental findings of the subwatershed study from a water resources perspective, for lands North of the Jock River are as follows:

Tributaries:

• North of the Jock River, the main tributaries are O’Keefe Drain, Foster Ditch and Fraser - Clarke Drain.
• O’Keefe and Fraser-Clarke tributaries are municipal drains.
• All tributaries to the Jock River support fisheries and are considered fish habitat.
• The tributaries provide only a highly seasonal and marginal fish habitat for a handful of warm water tolerant fish species.
• The tributaries can run dry or low after high spring water levels.
• Tributaries have been largely modified by channel straightening with little or no riparian vegetation.

The Subwatershed Study set out stormwater management design criteria for lands North of the Jock River that include:

• Quantity control storage as required to meet constraints within existing channels and/or at existing crossings.
• Erosion control storage as required to maintain stability and geomorphic function of the existing tributaries, as determined through further detailed study.
• Quality control storage as per the Ministry of Environment Enhanced Treatment (80% TSS removal).
• All stormwater management facility outlets will be designed to augment low flows to the extent possible.

The subwatershed study recommended a preferred stormwater management plan for the three catchment areas north of the Jock River, namely the O’Keefe Drain Catchment, the Foster Ditch Catchment and the Kennedy-Burnett/Fraser Clarke Catchment. The Stormwater Management Plan for lands North of the Jock River recommended the following:

O’Keefe Drain Catchment Area

• South of Fallowfield Road, to service lands between Strandherd Drive and McKenna Casey Drive – provide centralized, off-line SWM facility located south of McKenna Casey.

Foster Ditch Catchment Area

• North of Maravista, to service the undeveloped lands north of Maravista and existing developments east of Cedarview Road – provide a centralized SWM facility consisting of a wet pond and an additional area of fish habitat created to compensate for loss of habitat due to proposed partial enclosure/alignment of the Foster Ditch.
• North of McKenna Casey and South of Maravista, to service the area north of McKenna Casey Drive Between Cedarview and Strandherd not serviced by the Maravista SWM Pond and the area not serviced by the O’Keefe Pond – provide a centralized off-line stormwater facility located south of McKenna Casey Drive. Existing Foster Pond located at mouth of Foster Ditch to be decommissioned and temporary SWM pond (north of railway on parkland) to be removed.

Kennedy-Burnett/Fraser Clarke Catchment Area

• Future retrofit and expansion of Kennedy-Burnett stormwater management facility to accommodate and treat stormwater runoff from existing and future developments within Kennedy-Burnett and Fraser-Clarke drain catchment area.

This project will deal specifically with the Environmental Assessment, Preliminary and Detail Design of two stormwater management facilities:

1. Foster Ditch Catchment (South of Maravista only)
2. Kennedy-Burnett Catchment, retrofit/expansion of existing Kennedy-Burnett SWM Facility.

For further information about this project please contact:

Patrick Leblanc, P.Eng.
Senior Engineer, Infrastructure Projects
Design and Construction – Municipal (West)
100 Constellation Crescent
Ottawa, Ontario K2G 6J8
Tel: 613-580-2424 ext 26708