HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT - Wetlands and Flood Mitigation in Ontario: Natural adaptation to extreme rainfall
AUTHOR: MASON MARCHILDON, P. Eng. Oak Ridges Moraine Groundwater Program
Wetlands are often recognized for their flood control value, but little research exists specific to Ontario, where extreme weather causing flooding poses ever-greater threats to urban areas. Ducks Unlimited Canada has undertaken new research to better understand the role of wetlands in storing and attenuating flood flows in an urban/rural watershed. The second phase of this research, reported here, employs advanced hydrologic modelling to address the questions of where and how wetlands are most effective at retaining water, what consequences further wetland loss may have on flooding, and what potential wetland restoration could have to improve flood storage within a watershed. The modelling was accomplished using fully-integrated, three-dimensional variably saturated hydrologic model built for the entire Credit River watershed at a high spatiotemporal resolution.