Water Augmentation Tanks Benefits Community and Nature 

COQUITLAM, BC – In 2020, the Partington Creek Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP) identified the need for two Base Flow Augmentation Tanks (BFAT) to be installed within The Foothills community on Burke Mountain. Wesbild partnered with the City of Coquitlam to support the installation process of one of the tanks.  Wesbild’s installation practices not only enabled the City to reinvest the time savings towards additional community endeavours, but equally important, the installation project reduced disturbance to the natural habitat and surrounding wildlife. 

Stormwater management is crucial in Coquitlam, as the city experiences record rainfalls. BFATs collect and store water during storm events. The water is released at a regulated rate to provide steady baseflow to existing watercourses. Wesbild simultaneously constructed a diversion storm sewer to divert peak overflows from entering the watercourses. The BFAT and diversion storm sewer work in tandem to regulate stream flows. Regulating waterflow helps to keep watercourses from drying up in summer and reduces creek bank erosion due to flooding during winter months.  Each BFATs can collect up to one million litres of water and release it at a rate of 1.6L per second.

As a result of Wesbild’s innovative engineering design, installation time was reduced by 65%. The installation was completed in just over a month and nearby watercourses were restored immediately.  The facility was completed in August of 2020 – just in time for Coquitlam’s rainy season – and can be found at the intersection of Harper Road and Mitchell Street.  

While forces of nature cannot be controlled or predicted, the potential for peak storm events to cause flood damage is significantly reduced due to this work, protecting watercourses and communities on Burke Mountain. Wesbild is proud of the positive environmental impacts its development and construction practices were able to realize. This project is a testament that development done right can benefit both community and nature.

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