Independent Drainage Review Update

September 2026 Update Below

Drainage and stormwater management in the Kanata Lakes area is complex due to the combination of municipal drains, existing private and City owned infrastructure, watercourses, historical approvals, and Ontario Land Tribunal decisions and conditions. To support consistent and defensible technical decision-making, the City’s Water Resources Planning and Engineering Branch, within the Infrastructure and Water Services Department, has hired GEI Consultants to complete an independent review of the Kanata Lakes drainage and stormwater management system.

Purpose

The purpose of this review is to document how stormwater and drainage currently function across the golf course and surrounding area, including how the different parts of the system work together. The review will draw on past technical studies, available data and reports, input received through Engage Ottawa, and relevant Ontario Land Tribunal decisions. This information will be summarized in clear, accessible reports and mapping to create a consolidated record of existing conditions and help identify information gaps or high interest issues that should be addressed through future development studies.

Through this work, the consultant will:

• Document how existing drainage and stormwater systems function across the site and surrounding lands;
• Identify unresolved issues, gaps, and high-risk or high interest elements; and
• Develop a clear technical framework to support consistent review of future development applications.

Understanding how the existing stormwater and drainage systems function is important for managing flooding risks and protecting surrounding properties. This review will strengthen the City’s ability to manage risk and support well informed decisions when reviewing development application studies and plans.

The review is technical in nature and is intended to inform, not replace, statutory planning and approval processes.

Scope and Key Deliverables

The review assignment includes three main deliverables:

1. Background and Status Report: A summary of existing conditions, past approvals, and constraints. Includes maps and figures to illustrate relationships between parts of the overall drainage and stormwater management system.
2. Recommendations Memo: Guidance on suitability and requirements of different stormwater management approaches, infrastructure integration, and risk considerations, and
3. Sequencing and Review Process Memo: An outline of when and how drainage requirements should be addressed through development review, including alignment with Ontario Land Tribunal conditions

Collectively, these outputs will support more predictable, coordinated, and transparent review of future development proposals.

Key Clarifications

• City engineers are overseeing the assignment and are reviewing the deliverables for accuracy and completeness before any final reports are released publicly
• This review does not approve or authorize development
• It does not make land‑use or planning decisions
• All statutory approvals remain subject to existing planning, regulatory, and Council‑approved processes

Schedule

The study is underway and will continue through to the end of summer 2026. The Background and Status Report will be completed first, followed by the Recommendations Memo and Sequencing and Review Process Memo.

Public release of project deliverables will occur as documents are finalized following review by City engineering staff.

Status Updates:

• April 10, 2026 – Project initiation meeting held between the City’s engineering staff and GEI Consultants.
• May 27, 2026 - City received the Draft Background and Status Report and it is under review by engineering staff who are familiar with the history and drainage complexity of the Kanata Lakes developments.

Next Steps:

• The Background and Status Report document will be shared publicly on this Engage Page as soon as it is available. Further updates will also be posted here as the work progresses.

September 2026 UPDATE - Kanata Lakes Drainage and Stormwater Management Review

The Kanata Lakes Drainage and Stormwater Management Review Status Report is in final stages of review by City staff and will be shared on this Engage Ottawa page once finalized. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the drainage and stormwater management (SWM) conditions within the Kanata Lakes drainage system, with particular focus on the proposed redevelopment of 7000 Campeau Drive. The purpose of the review is to document how the drainage functions within the broader drainage system, summarize the available technical information, identify key uncertainties, and provide direction for future development submissions, and technical review. The following provides a high-level summary of some key content from the Status Report. More details will be available in the report when posted.

Kanata Lakes Drainage and Stormwater Management

Runoff from much of the Kanata Lakes community is conveyed through the Beaver Pond stormwater management facility (SWMF), which provides water quantity and quality control before discharging to Kizell Creek, the Kizell Municipal Drain, Watts Creek, and ultimately the Ottawa River. The Beaver Pond SWMF serves as the primary stormwater management facility for much of the Kanata Lakes community and provides both water quantity and water quality control for existing development.

Future drainage within the Kanata Lake drainage system is influenced by both Kanata North Development lands (KNL) (stages 7, 8 and 9) and the proposed redevelopment of 7000 Campeau Drive (see attached Figure 1). Historical studies, approvals, and monitoring indicate that the Beaver Pond SWMF continues to function as a key component of the drainage system. However, the system operates under approved outlet constraints and has limited capacity to accommodate additional future development without supporting stormwater management. All future development proposals will require continued assessment to ensure downstream performance, environmental protection, and regulatory requirements are sustained. KNL Stage 9 is currently under construction, with a portion of its runoff directed to Beaver Pond. Analyses completed for KNL development identified that additional stormwater management (SWM) measures may be required to maintain approved release rates under current City design criteria. Though KNL Stages 7 and 8 is draft approved, the proposed servicing strategy for these lands remains subject to the ongoing review through Drainage Act process and Engineer's Report.

Drainage Act Context

The future drainage framework for the Kanata Lakes watershed is also being changed through ongoing proceedings under the Drainage Act. Historically, the Kizell Municipal Drain was established to provide drainage and outlet functions for the watershed and has evolved to support urbanized drainage system. As development pressures increased, Drainage Act petitions were initiated to establish legal outlet requirements, authorize drainage improvements, allocate costs, and define long-term maintenance responsibilities.

In 2019, KNL Developments petitioned the City under Section 4 of the Drainage Act to provide a legal outlet for KNL Stages 7 and 8 and facilitate diversion of drainage through Beaver Pond to Kizell Creek and the Kizell Municipal Drain. A draft Preliminary Engineer's Report completed in 2021 concluded that the diversion concept was feasible subject to infrastructure improvements and further approvals. Therefore, the final servicing strategy for KNL Stages 7 and 8 remains under review through the ongoing Final Engineer's Report process. A subsequent Engineer's Report completed in 2023 updated the broader Kizell Municipal Drain system to address conveyance, erosion, environmental, and long-term maintenance considerations.

More recently, in 2025, ClubLink Corporation petitioned under Section 65(3) of the Drainage Act to connect the proposed redevelopment at 7000 Campeau Drive to the same drainage system. The petition is awaiting completion and acceptance of the required hydrologic and hydraulic modelling. The outcome of both processes will influence future drainage conditions within the Kanata Lakes drainage system and help determine whether the Beaver Pond SWMF, Kizell Creek, and the Kizell Municipal Drain can continue to accommodate future development while maintaining approved outlet controls, conveyance capacity, environmental objectives, and downstream system performance

7000 Campeau Drive

The redevelopment proposal for 7000 Campeau Drive is supported by a stormwater management strategy that includes SWM ponds, underground storage, and low impact development (LID) measures. The proposal has been reviewed through multiple planning and Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) proceedings, culminating in draft plan approval subject to a series of conditions that must be satisfied through future technical submissions and detailed design.

The proposed redevelopment of 7000 Campeau Drive has been approved in principle, through the Zoning By-law Amendment and Draft Plan of Subdivision decision by the OLT, subject to several conditions requiring updated modelling, design refinement, and technical review.

Key Constraints and Outstanding Requirements

Many supporting studies have been completed to assess drainage, stormwater management, flooding, erosion, groundwater, and environmental considerations associated with redevelopment. However, key uncertainties remain unresolved and require further assessment to confirm the final stormwater management design is acceptable and meets municipal and regulatory requirements. The stormwater management strategy will require updates to address OLT conditions and reflect the current proposed LID-based approach.

The key findings of this review are as follows:

• Beaver Pond remains the primary stormwater management facility for the Kanata Lakes drainage system and is a critical consideration in the assessment of future development.
• The redevelopment of 7000 Campeau Drive and the KNL developments have been assessed independently through their respective planning and servicing studies, however, a comprehensive assessment of cumulative impacts under full build-out conditions has not been completed.

The key constraints and outstanding requirements remain are as follows:

• Completion of downstream modelling using the City's approved Model of Record in accordance with OLT Condition 113.
• Assessment and mitigation of cumulative impacts associated with the combined future build-out of 7000 Campeau Drive and KNL Stages 7 and 8.
• Demonstration of the feasibility and long-term performance of proposed LID measures, considering local soil, groundwater, maintenance, and operational constraints.
• Confirmation that stormwater quantity controls achieve required performance independent of LID storage assumptions.
• Assessment of climate change resilience, including extreme rainfall events, system recovery between major storms, and watershed-scale performance.
• Confirmation that hydrogeological, groundwater, environmental, and contamination-related requirements are satisfactorily addressed to demonstrate the long-term suitability, feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed LID measures.
• Resolution of outstanding modelling assumptions, documentation inconsistencies, and reconciliation of supporting technical studies.

Key constraints and outstanding requirements include assessment of cumulative impacts associated with future watershed development, completion of updated downstream modelling, demonstration of LID feasibility and long-term performance, consideration of climate change impacts and system resilience, confirmation of groundwater and environmental requirements, and fulfillment of all applicable OLT conditions. Resolution of these matters is necessary before the City can confirm the detailed servicing and stormwater management design is acceptable.

These requirements are not considered barriers to development but must be addressed through future submissions and fulfillment of OLT conditions. Overall, the review concludes that maintaining the long-term function of the Beaver Pond SWMF and the broader Kanata Lakes drainage system requires continued assessment of cumulative watershed impacts as development proposals advance.

Next Steps

Informed by this status report, the next step of the Drainage Review is to prepare a Recommendation Memorandum identifying specific technical requirements and expectations for the development application submission. This will support future review of the proposed development and help ensure the continued function of the Beaver Pond SWMF and the broader Kanata Lakes drainage system while maintaining compliance with City, regulatory, and watershed management objectives.