At their regular meeting on November 3rd, Council endorsed the evaluation approach for managing dry detention ponds and directed staff to evaluate the potential re-use of the identified 12 detention ponds in the staff report. After visiting 100 of them during the Oct 2024 atmospheric river, 78% were dry. 

An optimized review of dry detention ponds considered four possible scenarios for each pond site:  

1. Optimize the pond so that it activates more frequently for improved stormwater management; 

2. Upgrade the pond from a dry pond to a wet pond for improved water quality and stormwater detention performance, with the land to remain defined as detention pond and not considered a regulated wetland or watercourse;  

3. Convert the pond to an underground detention facility to allow more active or programmed park uses; or  

4. Repurpose the pond site for possible municipal use or disposal.. 

Additional information can be found in the full report by City staff.