Calculating Stormwater Price by Volume in Canada: an Analysis of Three Cities

This paper is an examination of some of the many factors that influence the total cost that stormwater runoff inflicts on a city. While many cities are moving forward with implementing stormwater management fees, they are doing so in order to recuperate operating costs incurred by stormwater infrastructure development. These fees, then, are not indicative of the actual deleterious effects stormwater has on Canadian cities. A second component of this paper is framing the full cost, or at least a fuller cost, of stormwater within the cost and benefits posed by green infrastructure. That is, stormwater management infrastructure that is in some manner incorporated with the living environment. In doing so, this paper will make the argument that devoting more funding to stormwater infrastructure is a viable option for the development of livable and sustainable cities.