702A: Complete Corridors: Conveying Water, Wildlife and People

September 22, 2022

11:15AM - 11:45AM

In 2015, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks issued a memo requiring that stormwater management plans incorporate Low Impact Development (LID) methods to maintain the natural hydrologic cycle to the greatest possible extent.   Several LID methods were considered by the City of London to address this requirement, including Complete Corridors (or Regional Channels) as part of the subdivision planning process.  The implementation of this approach has resulted in an ecological success demonstrating that: different land use needs and dedication requirements for stormwater management, parks planning and natural heritage can be incorporated into one project; the collaboration and combined knowledge of a variety of stakeholders, including planners and landscape architects, can result in community and ecological oriented development; and, large stormwater and parks planning projects can be incorporated in the early phases of a plan of subdivision. 
The purpose of Complete Corridors is threefold:

1. Convey the Regional Storm Event (250 years) in a way that may also include LID infiltration features or additional floodplain storage;
2.  Provide a continuous linkage to wildlife that could include riparian vegetation, wetland habitat, woodlands, and buffers; and,
3.  Provide maintenance roads or foot trails that also double as a recreational opportunity and multi-use pathway to enhance active mobility within new subdivisions. 

Complete Corridors are applied where: significant streams, significant upstream drainage areas or Regional Floodplains are conveyed through new development lands, or, where a Municipal Class EA has identified them as the servicing option for a new development.  Planners, ecologists, landscape architects, engineers, conservation authorities, members of the public and the development community all collaborate in the initial proposal and draft plan phases of a plan of subdivision to ensure the corridor protects natural heritage features, promotes ecological functions, provides recreational opportunities for the public and serves a focal point and placemaking opportunity for subdivisions.

Speakers