UBC Undergraduate Research

UBC Botanical Garden stormwater management project Lam, Jacqueline; Chand, Kelvin; Shen, Lingfeng (Patti); Mamorafshard, Meraj; Hsieh, Wen Chien; Lee, Wilson; Wong, Yui-Chung

Abstract

Our group has explored some alternatives for solving the issue of stormwater management and water retention in the UBC Botanical Gardens. These options can generally be categorized into three options, namely: a water storage and treatment tank, a supplementary water retention system, and an under-pathway water collection system. However, the current level of information, gathered from various sources such as the Utilities Department and UBC Soil Science, is currently insufficient to determine a true base flow. A base flow was estimated for the stream by Old Marine Drive, but we found that no other data was available to the group in any form. A record of flow data which is required to predict future events will need to be developed. Other information such as the soil characteristics and rainfall data will be needed. It would also be helpful to have a longer water consumption record from the Garden meter. However, we were able to obtain an opinion from Douglas Justice on the feasibility of the other two alternatives for water retention. The water retention system and the ornamental pond would need to be reviewed by Garden senior management but the initial assessment is that it would be approved. Recommendations were also made regarding a future course of action to deal with the deficit of information, and these include recording occurrences of drought to see if any patterns can be found, enlarging stream channels to reduce the chance of flood, establishing response curves. In addition to these, implementing measures to reduce runoffs, such as swales, rain gardens, detention basins and rainwater collection would be greatly useful in decreasing the impact and frequency of floods. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada