Waterloo wins CAMA Award of Excellence

The City of Waterloo is pleased to announce it has won the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) Willis Award for Innovation (Over 100,000 Population Category) - Beneficial Reuse of Stormwater Management Facility Sediment – SWM Pond 53 Pilot. 

Sediment disposal from stormwater management facilities (SWMF) is a growing concern for municipalities across Ontario and Canada as these facilities age and require cleaning out to maintain proper function. Historically, Ontario’s environmental regulatory framework has resulted in SWMF sediment being sent to landfills for disposal; however, this practice is costly and unsustainable due to high material volumes and limited landfill capacity. 

“Environmental innovation in Canada is rapidly evolving and a pilot project is key to testing new concepts,” says Mayor Dave Jaworsky. “I'm proud our city staff could drive this forward, with provincial cooperation. Stormwater management is important for climate change adaptation to reduce urban flooding, and this new method for sediment remediation is a game-changer.” 

The City of Waterloo recently conducted a pilot study to evaluate the benefits of reusing SWMF sediment as a sustainable alternative to landfill disposal. City staff collaborated with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) and Francine Kelly-Hooper, Ph.D. to obtain the first environmental compliance approval in Ontario to reuse SWMF sediment as a replacement for topsoil in a city right-of-way. 

“We’d like to thank the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for supporting this project through the green municipal fund,” adds Jessica Kellerman, senior project engineer at the City of Waterloo. “Their contribution allowed us to explore a viable alternative to SWMF sediment disposal, resulting in positive environmental, economic and social impacts. We plan to explore this option for SWMF cleanouts in the future.” 

Specifically, sediment was excavated from a local stormwater management pond. It was dried, mixed with compost, and applied to two plots in medians on Columbia Street West. Grass growth in those medians was monitored for one year and determined to have performed comparably to, or better than, the regular topsoil areas. 

Reusing pond sediment has a number of positive environmental outcomes, including:

• Diverting large volumes of sediment from landfill disposal facilities. This conserves precious landfill space, reducing the need to consume other lands for expansion or construction of new landfill facilities to meet growing waste disposal needs.
• Eliminating long distance trucking of SWMF sediment to distant landfill facilities.  This minimizes the risk of spills during transportation, reduces transportation carbon footprint, and conserves energy.
• Using SWMF sediment as topsoil material reduces the need to remove and import natural topsoil from other locations. 

The results demonstrated that reusing sediment provides a practical and sustainable alternative to topsoil for plant growth. The sediment diverted from the landfill was successfully reused as a beneficial landscaping alternative to reduce waste and disposal costs. Based on the success of the pilot project, the City of Waterloo intends to continue working with the MECP to explore beneficial reuse as a sustainable practice for all future SWMF cleanout projects.
 

About the CAMA Awards of Excellence Program

Each year CAMA recognizes the value of excellence in professionalism in municipal administration through the Annual Awards Program in three areas of Program Excellence. Awards are presented to local governments and their chief administrators in recognition of their creative and successful programs, projects or services. 

For more information about CAMA, please visit camacam.ca

Media contact: 

Shelly Reed
Communications consultant
City of Waterloo
shelly.reed@waterloo.ca