Residents in the area of Brevoort Park South can rest at ease this rainy season, as Saskatoon’s latest Flood Control Strategy project is now officially complete.  

Russ Munro, Director of Saskatoon Water, says the project, which got underway in 2023, has added an underground rainwater storage area to Brevoort Park South, between Early Drive and Taylor Street. 

 Munro says the area has been devastated by several floods before, hence the need to act quickly.

“Our team has met with individuals whose properties have routinely flooded in past rain events. Many have endured significant property damage, and even more damage of their mental health due to the burden that year-after-year flooding has had on their families.”

He says the park now has the capacity to hold 8.6 million litres of rainwater. That’s enough water to fill two Olympic-size swimming pools. He adds that it’s already proving useful. Last August, it was able to prevent flooding at 41 buildings in the area of Early Drive and Tucker Crescent.

He says the wet long weekend also gave the new system a chance to prove itself.  

“We did have water inside of the facility. We didn’t use the capacity, but it did take on quite a bit of water.”

Munro says the flood mitigation project is the fourth of nine to be completed in Saskatoon, all of which are expected to cost about $54 million when finished, before 2028. The Brevoort Park South project is estimated to cost $10.3 million with the City contributing $6.2 million and the Government of Canada through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund is contributing $4.1 million. 

Work is also nearing completion at the fifth project at the intersection of Cumberland and Eighth Street, another problem area identified by the City.