Climate Resilient Home

The City of Windsor has retrofitted a City-owned home built in the City’s core in the 1920s with the goal of reducing the risk of basement flooding. A series of changes were implemented to the inside and outside of the home to make it more climate resilient.

Windsor's Changing Climate

As detailed in the charts below, Climate Change projections for the Windsor area predict that annual mean precipitation totals will increase. More importantly, the storms are expected to increase in intensity by 25 percent over the current 10-year return storm and by 40 percent over the current 100-year return storm.

The City sewer system is designed to handle a certain storm volume, and storms larger than that may lead to sewer backup or overland flooding.

What is the City Doing to Mitigate Flood Risk?

The City has a number of initiatives underway or recently completed to address this challenging problem, including the following:

• Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund
• Climate Change Adaptation Plan update
• Sewer and Coastal Flood Management Plan
• Education and engagement

A Homeowner's Reality

Even though the City is taking numerous steps to reduce the risk of flooding to the community, the City will never be able to eliminate the risk of basements flooding. However, there are steps that a homeowner can take to mitigate the risk to their home and property.

The "Climate Resilient Home" was updated as a tool to help the community better understand some of the steps that can be taken to reduce risk:

• Downspout disconnection (City incentive available) and rain barrels
• Backwater valve (City incentive available)
• Sump pump with overflow (City incentive available)
• Regrading properties
• Rain gardens
• Infiltration trench

The implementation and maintenance of these actions are the homeowner's responsibility. However, the City has some programs in place to support the homeowner. Check each topic listed above to learn more. In addition, the City has recently published a Residential Guide to Flood Prevention and Recovery to support residents in reducing risks.

Note: The City of Windsor offers a Basement Flooding Subsidy Program for Windsor residents to help with the costs of upgrades to help reduce the risk of basement flooding.

For more information on environmental initiatives:

• Phone: For general information, call 311. For detailed inquiries, call 519-255-6100 ext. 6127.
• Email: emp@citywindsor.ca