Improving geospatial components of integrated stormwater management plans (ISMPs)

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Pollutants in urban stormwater runoff from cities is a primary stressor on urban aquatic ecosystems andexacerbated by increased impervious surfaces. Our industrial partners at Kerr Wood Leidal Associates Ltd.(KWL) routinely provide monitoring and modelling advice for stormwater management in Canadian cities andhave been instrumental in designing Metro Vancouver's Integrated Stormwater Management Plans (ISMPs).Our KWL partners report that several commonly-used ISMP indicators are potentially inadequate formonitoring. Land cover measures such as % impervious area and % riparian forest integrity are used in ISMPsto predict and track changes in urban aquatic systems. To date, delineation of such features with coarse spatialresolution data is inadequate for mapping fine-scale impervious surfaces and remnant riparian vegetation. ThisENGAGE project will improve indicators related to land use and land cover (e.g., impervious surfaces andriparian stream vegetation) which underpin the ISMP approach. Assessing the effectiveness and limitations ofISMPs, and suggesting improvements, is the key to their continued implementation.