Rethinking water drainage in a prairie landscape: Seine River Diversion

Abstract

This practicum focuses on improving the ecological conditions of the Seine River Diversion located near the city of Winnipeg. The Diversion is one of Manitoba’s many engineered drainage infrastructures with poor water quality, lacking in biodiversity and habitat. The main objectives of the practicum are improving the water quality in the Diversion, habitat and biodiversity restoration, and providing recreational opportunities to create a new public space adjacent to the Diversion. After conducting a detailed investigation of the existing conditions, historical context and the Diversion’s impact on the large-scale landscape that emerged from under the glaciers, sites parallel to the Diversion that possess a potential for meeting the practicum’s objectives are identified. One site is distilled from the many potential sites, and a prototype design proposal that meets the goals and objectives of the practicum is developed in detail. An examination of the projects that can act as precedents for the prototype design is carried out to determine a sustainable and resilient design strategy. The prototype design utilizes green infrastructure to propose a self-sustainable system that satisfies the practicum’s objectives. Wetlands are proposed to collect, retain and treat the impure water from many sources of pollution before its release into the Diversion. The proposal improves the ecological conditions of the Seine River Diversion and tackles the issues of loss of habitats and biodiversity that are present globally.