This community has completed its pilot project:
Nanaimo
A key objective for the City of Nanaimo related to understanding and maximizing municipal services from the Buttertubs Marsh Conservation Area, a 55 HA/133 acre reclaimed wetland/floodplain in the center of the City. Prior to the MNAI pilot, City efforts related to the Marsh focused primarily on maintaining open water habitat, inventorying and restoring natural biodiversity, and removing invasive species. No costing estimates for the value of stormwater management or other services had been conducted.
The City of Nanaimo wanted to answer a number of management questions through the project, including:
- How resilient is the Marsh to future storm events; how well can it manage in different storm scenarios?
- What is the value of the services provided from the Marsh; if these services were degraded, what costs would need to be incurred elsewhere by the City? Conversely, if they were enhanced, would there be savings to the City?
- What is the value of the wetland’s water retention properties? Does it offset future capital expenditures and / or justify any land acquisition?
- What is the value of the Marsh in terms of assuring downstream water quality?
To the extent possible with the model and data availability, these questions were addressed in the context of other natural and engineered components of the sub-watershed.