Low Impact Development Capital Costs - City of Philadelphia 2018 Annual Report Compiles Green Infrastructure Costs and Service Area

See September 2019 Update and Comparison at Bottom of this Post.

Green Infrastructure (GI), Low Impact Development (LID) Stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP) measures are widely promoted to achieve water management goals including baseflow management (i.e, through groundwater infiltration / recharge) and erosion stress reduction (i.e., through runoff volume reduction for small storms).

The capital cost of GI / LID / BMPs is of considerable interest to those considering implementation on a system-wide basis. In general, the capital cost can be related to the size of the measure, often dictated by the size drainage area it serves.

The City of Philadelphia has been implementing GI / LID / BMP retrofits for many years and has compiled the cost of measures. These have been recently reported in this document (see pdf page 151). This is an excerpt:

Data in the table has been compiled to support cost benefit analysis for flood resiliency assessments. The chart below shows how costs increase as a function of drainage area size.

The slope of the cost vs. drainage area trend line is $295,000 per acre, or $728,000 per hectare considering 85 projects, some with multiple sub-projects.

The 2018 report includes projects completed between 2006 and 2018. When capital costs are adjusted for changes in construction costs, costs can be expressed in 2018 dollars. An adjustment in Philadelphia project costs was based on data from RSMeans (link). The following chart shows green infrastructure capital costs in 2018 dollars vs. drainage area.

 The average cost per acre is $320,000 while the cost per hectare is $792,000. There is a very strong correlation of cost with drainage area serviced by the green infrastructure feature. Weighted by the overall program cost of $56.8M and total drainage area of 164 acres (66 hectares), the program costs per acre and hectare $347,000 and $857,000 respectively. In a previous post the budgeting considered by Philadelphia was $350,000 per impervious acre, or $865,000 per impervious hectare. These costs suggest a lower cost per impervious area than those budget amounts.

The cost of providing storage is indicated in the chart below. Again the overall project or bundled project cost is highly correlated to the storage volume provided by the green infrastructure measures. The average cost is $52.7 per cubic foot or $1850 per cubic metre of storage. Note that the weighted overall program cost is different - the $56.8M cost for 907,000 cubic feet, or 25,700 cubic metres, of storage works out to unit costs of $62.6/cu.ft, or $2200/cu.m

It is worthwhile noting the average storage depth across the drainage areas serviced by the green infrastructure features. The average depth is 25,700 cu.m / 66 hectares = 25,700 / 660,000 = 39 mm. This reflects the range in design of 1 to 2 inches (25-50 mm) intended for CSO control. It is above the depth that is typically used for achieving watershed or catchment water management goals, e.g., water balance management for erosion mitigation, groundwater recharge, or non-point source water quality management. The draft Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks Low Impact Development guidance manual proposed control volumes up to 32 mm in Ontario, or 18% below the average depth in the Philadelphia projects.

Unit costs can be used to support high level green infrastructure program and project budgeting. There is scatter within the charts for a given drainage area or storage volume, meaning the cost of an individual project should allow for a high contingency above the average unit costs, until design details are available.

Unit costs can be assessed for various LID types - cost per drainage area for permeable pavement, rain garden, infiltration trench and tree trench projects are shown in the chart below with infiltration trenches having the lowest cost per acre and permeable pavement having the highest. The unit costs of rain gardens and tree trenches are above those of infiltration trenches.

Cost per storage volume for permeable pavement, rain garden, infiltration trench and tree trench projects are shown in the chart below. Again, infiltration trenches having the lowest cost per cubic foot of storage and permeable pavement having the highest cost per storage unit. The unit costs of rain gardens and tree trenches are above those of infiltration trenches.

The inset text boxes on the charts illustrate unit costs (i.e., the slopes of the trend lines):

Unit Cost per Drainage Area Summary:
Infiltration Trench: $260k/acre ($642k/hectare)
Pervious Pavement: $594k/acre ($1.47M/hectare)
Rain Garden: $408k/acre ($1.01M/hectare)
Tree Trench: $318k/acre ($790k/hectare)

Unit Cost per Storage Volume Summary:
Infiltration Trench: $49.0/cf ($1730/cu.m)
Pervious Pavement: $97.2/cf ($3430/cu.m)
Rain Garden: $60.1/cf ($2120/cu.m)
Tree Trench: $58.9/cf ($2080/cu.m)

***

Green Infrastructure Strategies?

In Ontario, there are approximately 852,000 urban hectares that have no green infrastructure controls  in the year 2000 (per SOLRIS GIS land use data). Implementing green infrastructure across all these areas, similar to Philadelphia, would cost 853,000 x $857,000 = $730 billion - this is 100 times greater than the entire Ontario stormwater infrastructure deficit, and a similar magnitude to Ontario's annual GDP ($854B in 2018). Philadelphia is targeting a specific need for CSO control to justify its green infrastructure investment. Given this magnitude of cost, to make green infrastructure affordable in Ontario certainly requires a strategic assessment on where it is implemented. The expected annual flood damage loss in Ontario is $292M, meaning that if flood control green infrastructure reduces the cost by half each year for 50 years (assumed service life), the total savings is $7.3B - why would one invest 100 times that loss ($730B) in green infrastructure?

Ontario's Draft LID (Low Impact Development) Manual sets a generic goal of implementing LID / green infrastructure in new development and retrofit development (including linear infrastructure). Cost concerns with a generic approach have been identified by the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers in comments on Bill 139 assuming unit cost of $400,000 per hectare based on a small set of Ontario tender costs. Those costs were for small volume installations, whereas the Philadelphia program costs are for high volume installations.

***

Update September 2019

The following is a comparison of costs from three sources:
i) Philadelphia (costs above),
ii) Ontario and Alberta project review (expanding previous list), and NEW
iii) EPA International BMP Database costs review.

Green Infrastructure Costs - Philadelphia, Ontario, Alberta and US EPA BMP Database Projects

Costs are normalized by drainage area and grouped by type of LID BMP.  An important design parameter is shown in the second last row - i.e., storage volume - that helps explain the variability in some program costs.  For example, Philadelphia storage volumes average 38.9 mm across the catchment being served while the EPA database projects average 6.6 mm - Philadelphia is pursuing CSO control with target storage volumes of 1-2 inches.  Other EPA BMP Database projects incorporate much smaller storage volumes on average.  Note that Philadelphia has a high cost per hectare but this is due to a higher design volume - their cost/hectare is 4.1 times the EPA project cost, but the design volume is 5.9 times greater.  This shows a higher cost efficiency in Philadelphia for the larger projects.  This is seen in the cost per ha-mm or cost per cubic metre of storage (only $22,000 / ha-mm for Philadelphia vs. $32,000 per ha-mm for EPA projects).

Some more notes:
- the Ontario costs in bold are for entire projects what may include several components, which is why the individual LID type costs are lower
- Ontario data omits storage for most projects, which is a gap that should be filled in the future
- the costs per storage volume in EPA for permeable pavement and infiltration trenches seem low, based on large storage projects that suggest costs of $400-500 / cu.m for large centralized facilities

How can the unit costs for LIDs be applied, say in planning level studies?  Well ...

In Ontario, 5 mm is a general criterion for erosion control (Toronto and Region Conservation Authority watershed) and is the control volume for Toronto's Wet Weather Flow Management Program.  The compiled costs can be used to show that providing this 5 mm of storage would cost $160,000 per  hectare ($32,000/ha-mm x 5 mm).

In a typical storm sewer catchment with a 50 hectare drainage area the capital cost would be $8M to implement 5 mm LID storage across the catchment/drainage area.

Across Ontario, with 852,000 hectares of urban development built before 2000, the cost to implement 5 mm of LID storage would be $136B, or about 20 times Ontario's current stormwater infrastructure deficit.

Cost-Effective Resilience - The Grey, the Green and the Ugly - WEAO Influents Article Examines Infrastructure Technology 'Bang for the Buck'

New article in the Water Environment Association of Ontario's Influents Magazine explores the cost-effectiveness on infrastructure technologies, including conventional 'grey' and emerging 'green' approaches for achieving extreme weather resiliency by reducing flood losses in existing communities.

See: article link.

The article provides a brief history of Low Impact Development Best Management Practices (LID BMPs) in Ontario and the assessment of cost in infrastructure projects. New requirements for benefit-cost analysis for flood mitigation projects, such as through Infrastructure Canada's Disaster Mitigation Adaptation Fund, are also discussed. A previous post identifies some of these significant projects (https://www.cityfloodmap.com/2019/03/disaster-mitigation-adaptation-fund.html).

Results of a case study comparing grey, green and blended grey and green technologies are summarized. Details of this analysis are included in a previous post (https://www.cityfloodmap.com/2019/03/an-economic-analysis-of-green-v-grey.html) and were presented at the 2019 WEAO Annual Conference. The case study confirms the cost-effectiveness of conventional grey technologies, consisting largely of storm and sanitary sewer upgrades, and cast doubt on the cost-effectiveness of emerging green infrastructure or LID BMPs, considering full lifecycle costs. Limitations in the assessment of technical effectiveness green infrastructure in insurance industry research, as summarized in a previous post (https://www.cityfloodmap.com/2018/10/media-identifies-gaps-in-insurance.html) and in my NWWC2018 presentation Storm Warts, the Floods Awaken (https://www.cityfloodmap.com/2018/11/storm-warts-floods-awaken-new-hope-for.html) are briefly touched upon.

The move toward more rigorous assessments of project cost effectiveness is keeping with the Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan that intends to avoid the frustration of "policies and programs that don't deliver results". Such assessments are also consistent with Ontario's Long Term Infrastructure Plan 2017 that suggests that infrastructure proposals should be "supported by robust and consistent business cases".

Flooded Basement Cost in Canada - How Dwelling Size and Regional Differences Affect Cost Benefit Analysis and Return on Investment in Flood Risk Remediation Strategies

Flooded basements dominate natural hazard damages in many parts of Canada. The cost to lower flood risk varies considerably from several hundred to a few thousand dollars for simple lot-level best management practices, up to many tens of thousands of dollars per home for significant and complex infrastructure upgrades. Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) can help guide what scale of risk reduction investment is appropriate given the implementation cost and the long term benefits of deferred damages over the lifecycle of the investment.  While CBA is uncommon in traditional municipal infrastructure planning, it has been applied in the past to identify municipal flood infrastructure priorities and is now a requirement for large scale projects under the new Disaster Mitigation Adaptation Fund. This blog post explores basement flood cost estimates that may be used to in CBA to help develop flood mitigation strategies and prioritize cost-effective best practices, programs and projects that deliver timely risk reduction.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has identified the cost of a flooded basement in Canada to be $40,000 - this has been described as an "average cost". This is an important number in CBA since it drives the value of deferred damages associated with flood risk reduction best practices.  A recent report "Blueprints for Action, Minimizing Homeowner Flood Risk in the GTHA"
(July 2017) prepared by Civic Action, IBC, and the  Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation indicates that value reflects damages for two particular flood events, the including the Toronto area July 8, 2013 storm and the 2013 flooding in Alberta, which included extensive river flooding - the report indicates "Combined with flooding in Alberta that same year, affected homeowners faced
a $40,000 repair bill on average." and " The average cost of repairing basements damaged by flooding in Alberta and Toronto in 2013 was more than $40,000 for each affected homeowner." citing a CBC news article in which the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation indicates "The average cost of restoring water-logged basements in Alberta and Toronto in 2013 was more than $40,000 for each homeowner".

Correspondence with IBC suggests the value of $40,000 reflects Greater Toronto Area (GTA) costs for 2013 flooding, and not Alberta basements as noted in the Blueprints for Action report, and that values have been 'rounded up'. IBC also noted Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation relies upon US data in Forbes: "More specifically, according to the National Flood Insurance Program in the United States, a 15-centimeter flood in a 2,000-square-foot home is likely to cause about $40,000 in damage”  (Flood Insurance: Protection Against Storm Surge. 2012).

Let's review this basement damage cost and also consider how it can be used in cost benefit analysis that must take into account the frequency of these damages, that is, the return period or probability of such damages occurring.

First, what geography does the $40,000 damage value apply to? That is unclear and seems to grow over time:
i) The July 2017 Blueprint for Action report suggests it applies to the Toronto area and Alberta,
ii) A May 2017 Global News article suggests it applies to all major cities according the the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation: "A flooded basement costs an average of $42,000 in major cities",
iii) A 2018 infographic by the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation suggests that it applies more broadly to basements across Canada, not just major cities,

iv) Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation's presentation to the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources Issue No. 38 - Evidence - February 8, 2018 (see transcript) notes "This is very problematic, because the average cost of a flooded basement in the country right now, in urban and rural areas, is about $43,000.", expanding the damage estimate of "about" $43,000 to include rural areas too.
v) Shortly after the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation appears to firm up the estimate on TVO's The Agenda, Assessing Ontario's Flood Risks, March 23, 2018 (see transcript) and notes "It's highly problematic. The average cost of a flooded basement in Canada right now is $43,000."

So the estimate has changed from characterizing Toronto and Alberta flooding in 2013 extreme events to applying to "major cities", then more widely to "urban and rural areas", and has changed from an estimate to a more definitive "average cost" across Canada.

How do the flooded basement damage values compare to other sources?

KPMG's report "Water Damage Risk and Canadian Property Insurance Pricing" (2014) for the Canadian Institute of Actuaries summarizes water damage trends from Aviva Canada:

"In a media release dated April 10, 2013, Aviva stated: Approximately 40 per cent of all home insurance claims are the result of water damage . . . and the average cost of water damage claims rose 117%, from $7,192 in 2002 to over $15,500 in 2012, a year in which the company
paid out over $111 million in property water damage claims. (source)

An older media release in early 2011 also highlights the concern: “Aviva Canada’s data found that
in 2000, the average cost of a water damage claim was $5,423. In 2010, it was over $14,000 – an
increase of nearly 160 percent”. (source)"

Aviva Canada has also commented that average flooded basement costs has increased in a Canadian Underwriter article stating "The average cost per residential water damage claim has increased significantly – going from $11,709 in 2004 to $16,070 in 2014, a 37% increase.". These values may reflect damages in years that did not have widespread record-breaking flood events like 2013, characteristic of more average or typical low-flooding years.

So average water damage claims at Aviva Canada have been given as:

$5,423 in 2000
$7,192 in 2002
$11,709 in 2004
over $14,000 in 2010
over $15,500 in 2012, and
$16,070 in 2014.

Why are 2013 claims cited by IBC so high? The KPMG report offers some insight:

"... good practice for property pricing requires that actuaries have the ability to link claims data with detailed exposure data. Thus, actuaries require accurate cause of-loss coding for all property claims. This coding is particularly important following the occurrence of major events such as the Alberta and Toronto floods of 2013. Many losses arising from the Alberta floods, in particular, were covered by insurers as a goodwill measure and to enhance the long-term relationship with customers and not because the peril of water damage was covered in the insureds’ policies."

So 2013 damage values include perils that were not covered, e.g., overland flooding. Why else are 2013 claims cited by IBC so high? Because of the severity of the 2013 storm event in the GTA. The chart below shows 3-hour rainfall totals in comparison to return period totals in west Toronto and Mississauga. The Gauge 1, 2 and 3 3-hour rainfall depths of 138 mm, 121 mm and 96 mm were identified by Toronto Water in a ICLR Friday Forum workshop February 19, 2016 entitled 'Reducing flood risk in Toronto' - see slide 19 in the presentation.

July 8, 2013 Extreme Rainfall Frequency Analysis and Comparison to Design Rainfall Intensities

An excerpt from the Toronto Water presentation is shown to the right showing the location of the 3 gauges that recorded over 100-year storm amounts.

IDF data for the Toronto City (Bloor Street) gauge are used in the frequency analysis chart above. The version 2.3 datasets with 61 years of record have been extended to include 2017 data obtained from Environment and Climate Change Canada, extending the record to 70 years. Frequency analysis on the extended dataset using a the Gumbel distribution was completed by the City of Markham who uses this gauge in its stormwater management and engineering design guidelines and standards. Frequency analysis was also extended for the Pearson Airport gauge. A summary table showing the updated IDF values, including the 3-hour duration rainfall depths in the chart is shown below.

For large portions of the GTA where flooding was concentrated, the observed rainfall amount exceeded the 100-year design rainfall and at two rain gauges even exceeded the 2000-year (not 200, 2000!) rainfall statistic. So 2013 was certainly not an average year for basement flooding.

Another reason that the IBC flood damage value may be so high is that it has been vetted by comparing to much larger homes in the US. While the damage for a 2000 square foot home in the US may equate to $40,000, the most flood-prone homes in Canada are much smaller. Most flooding in Canadian cities occurs in older subdivisions build before modern drainage and wastewater servicing design practices, in general, before 1980 - a previous post shows this quantitatively. A Globe and Mail article quotes M Hanson Advisers, a U.S. research firm that caters to institutional investors, indicating "In 1975, the average size of a house in Canada was 1,050 square feet." - this is about half of the comparative house size used to vet the $40,000 damage estimate. The average claim-count-weighted US flood damage is much higher than the Canadian average event claims, perhaps reflecting the severe nature of hurricane event damage as explored in a previous post that evaluated FEMA flood damage payouts - our analysis generated inflation-adjusted claim-count-weighted average payout of $60,600, considering 116 events between 1978 and 2017.

So IBC has identified a 'rounded-up' basement flood damage cost associated with a very extreme rainfall event in the GTA and that considers extensive riverine flooding in Alberta where payouts appear to have been for uninsured perils as a means of goodwill and client retention. The Aviva Canada reported average claims suggest a lower water damage amount in average years without the unique 2013 considerations in the GTA and Alberta.

What flooded basement damage amount should be considered in deriving deferred damage benefits and in return on investment (ROI) calculations for flood remediation projects? Yes, that was how this post started. Such calculations can take two approaches, one a top-down aggregation approach to guide long-term flood remediation program spending, and another bottom-up property-by-property approach at that recognizes variability in individual property risk.

Stay tuned for our economic model of flood damages and remediation strategies!

***

New - CBC Ombudsman reviews $43,000 value and finds it is not an average but based on one extreme, unique flood event in Toronto in 2013 (July 8, 2013) - see post: https://www.cityfloodmap.com/2019/09/assessing-damage-cbc-ombudsman-finds.html

Green Infrastructure Capital and Operation and Maintenance Costs - City of Philadelphia Clean Waters Pilot Program Final Report

A previous post summarized budget costs for Philadelphia's extensive green infrastructure program, showing budget costs of $568,00 per hectare, comparable to recent Ontario LID project tenders with an average cost of $575,000 per hectare.

The Philadelphia Water Department's has also reported extensively on green infrastructure costs and performance in their report Green City, Clean Waters Pilot Program Final Report. Highlights are presented below.

Green Infrastructure Capital Costs (Construction)

"The median construction cost per unit of impervious drainage area was $353,719/ac" - that equates to $872,000 per impervious hectare (2015 dollars).

"Median construction cost per unit of storage volume (Greened Acre) is $248,365/ac-in" - that equates to $2416 per cubic metre.

Overall costs appear to be increasing over time as shown in the following chart - to convert cost per acre to per hectare, multiply by 2.47 :

Green Infrastructure Construction Cost by Feature Type

Capital costs vary according to the type of green infrastructure (called GSI in Philadelphia). The following chart shows the variability in cost per managed impervious area for various types, suggesting some economies of scale for larger managed impervious areas.

The following chart shows the range of cost, median and average cost per managed impervious acre. A high variability in costs is shown from project to project.

Construction Cost by Loading Ratio / Efficiency

The cost efficiency of a green infrastructure project can vary according to its loading ratio, i.e., the relative size of the contributing runoff area to the project area itself. The following chart shows how project costs decrease for larger loading ratios - costs at ratios of 15 or greater are 25% less than costs for ratios of 10 and under. Also it appears that costs level-off for ratios of 15 and greater (i.e., the average cost for a loading ratio of 15 or greater is the same as for a loading ratio of 10 to 15).

Green Infrastructure Operation and Maintenance Cost

Operation and maintenance costs have been reported as well and show a wide variability. The following chart shows cost per impervious drainage area by broad type of green infrastructure, whether a subsurface or surface feature. The data indicates that surface features - those that are vegetated - cost on average more than subsurface features to maintain.

The average cost per impervious acre of $8000 equates to about $20,000 per impervious hectare. The following chart shows the variability in operation and maintenance costs according to each specific green infrastructure type. The chart shows for example higher costs for surface bumpouts and rain gardens than subsurface trenches and basins. For example, on average a bumpout costs almost twice as much as a subsurface basin.

The operation and maintenance cost appears to be approximately $20,000/$872,000 = 2.3% of capital cost. Lifecycle replacement / reconstruction of green infrastructure features, based on their deterioration over time,  would generally add to this cost and could be considered to be 1-4% of capital cost depending on the service life of the feature (i.e., features that last 25 years add 4% depreciation, and those that last 100 years add 1%).

Using these unit costs, overall lifecycle costs for Ontario-wide implementation are explored below, assuming an initial 50-year build-out period and a range of green infrastructure measures with service life durations of 25 to 100 years.

Given 852,000 urban hectares in Ontario, and assuming these are 50% impervious, the cost of green infrastructure retrofits in this province would be $370 billion dollars in capital construction cost (using $872,000 per impervious hectare) - that compares to the current Ontario stormwater infrastructure deficit of $6.8 billion. The Ontario-wide annual operation and maintenance cost for 426,000 impervious hectares would be $8.5 billion assuming $20,000 per impervious hectare - that O&M cost is over 1% of Ontario's GDP. Based on these costs, green infrastructure policies that prescribe wide-spread implementation require careful review for affordability. To recap:

Capital cost = $366 billion (using slightly lower unit cost of $860,000 per Row 12 below)
Annual O&M cost = $8.5 billion
Annual depreciation = $7.2 billion
Annual lifecycle cost (O&M + depreciation (reserve/rebuild)) = $15.8 billion

The following table summarizes the unit costs and illustrates the Ontario-wide costs that should be a cause for concern.

Ontario Green Infrastructure LID Capital, Operation and Maintenance and Lifecycle Depreciation / Reconstruction Costs - Units Costs per Philadelphia Green City, Clean Waters Pilot Program Final Report  

The follow chart illustrates the time series of costs including initial capital construction, operation and maintenance ramp-up followed by sustained operation and maintenance, reserve contributions for lifecycle asset reconstruction / rebuild according to service life (assumed 1/3 25-year, 1/3 50-year and 1/3 100-year durations), and rebuild costs (starting in year 26). It is assumed that 50 and 100-year service life assets are rebuilt over 50 a 50 year period, similar to the initial construction period.

Ontario Green Infrastructure LID Capital, Operation and Maintenance and Lifecycle Depreciation / Reconstruction Costs - 50-year initial buildout and ongoing replacement of assets beginning in year 26, funded by annual reserve.

After the initial build, the average annual operation and maintenance and depreciation costs (that are reflected in the reserve and rebuild costs) is $15.8 billion.

Some academics, including those who promote green infrastructure for amenity or other stormwater management values, have proposed green infrastructure for the purpose of flood control as well. In order to achieve flood mitigation benefits, however, widespread implementation in the sewersheds or tributaries that have flood risks is required - in that case, the costs would appear to be prohibitive to achieve quantifiable flood reduction benefits. For illustrative purposes, a York Region 100 hectare catchment has recently undergone sewer capacity upgrades at a capital cost of approximately $20M and with nominal changes in net operation and maintenance cost (larger sewers replace older ones) and a 100 year service life - implementation was over 3 years. In comparison, the green infrastructure capital costs would be in the order of $872,000 * 50% impervious * 100 hectares = $44M with additional operation and maintenance costs and lower service life durations of 25-100 years, and long term implementation (over decades) with challenges on implementation on private properties, challenges with implementation in newer tributary catchment areas with low flood risk and high existing asset value (i.e., no co-benefits of watermain replacement, etc.). Basically, the conventional flood mitigation (grey infrastructure) approach is less expensive, has a shorter implementation time and more reliably addresses the flood risk issue (i.e., green infrastructure infiltration can aggravate wastewater inflow and infiltration stresses, can adversely affect foundations, and can be unreliable in high groundwater tables areas or during saturated conditions when green infrastructure storage in ineffective).

Some further case studies and detailed assessment are required to explore where and how some green infrastructure features can contribute to Ontario urban flood risk goals in a technically effective, timely and cost-effective manner. Similarly, analysis is needed to evaluate the strategic role of green infrastructure for achieving other stormwater management goals beyond flood risk mitigation.

***

How do Philadelphia GSI / green infrastructure costs compare to those of other jurisdictions? One can compare unit costs of $872,000 per hectare for Philadelphia's 1,100 projects with those in Onondaga County, New York. Costs for various types of green infrastructure measures are summarized in a recent article: http://stormwater.wef.org/2015/12/real-cost-green-infrastructure/http://stormwater.wef.org/2015/12/real-cost-green-infrastructure/.

The following chart illustrates lower unit costs with larger projects projects, similar to the Philadelphia reporting.

Green Infrastructure Unit Cost by LID (GSI) Type - Onondaga County, New York

These construction costs may be expressed as costs per area for projects. Considering projects managing 1 to 1.5 acres of impervious area the average cost per acre and hectare are summarized in the table below.

Green Infrastructure unit cost for projects managing up to 1.5 acres of impervious area  - Onondaga County, New York

 Excluding green roof projects, the average construction cost per impervious acres managed is over $368,000, or $783,000 per hectare. This cost is close to the Philadelphia cost of $872,000 per impervious hectare. Assuming 80% impervious surfaces in a catchment, the unit construction costs for project excluding green roofs in Onondaga County, New York is about $627,000 per hectare. This value is in the range of Ontario pilot projects with costs average costs of $575,000 per hectare.

The article citing Onondaga County green infrastructure costs notes that lower costs can be achieved by bundling implementation with other roadway works. In those cases costs were $320,000 per impervious hectare, or approximately $288,000 per total hectare, assuming 90% impervious coverage in those street projects.

Operation and maintenance costs for green infrastructure are summarized by CH2M as well. One observation that is similar to Philadelphia cost reporting is that vegetated systems are more costly to maintain than non-vegetated systems. The following chart summarizes costs per impervious area for various green infrastructure (LID, GSI) measures.

Green infrastructure operation and maintenance costs by type per impervious area managed.

Excluding green roof measures, a annual maintenance costs range from about $500 per impervious acre (low range for infiltration trench) to $3300 per impervious acre for tree infiltration trenches. A typical cost would be about $1500 per acre per year ($3700 per impervious hectare per year) which is 1500/368,000 = 0.4% of capital cost. This is significantly below the Philadelphia unit cost of $8000 per impervious hectare. It is also significantly below reported O&M/capital costs ratios reported in the American Society of Civil Engineers' report Cost of maintaining green infrastructure. In that report O&M costs for infiltration trenches and bioretention ranged from 5-20% and 5-7% respectively per one source (USEPA 1999 summarized by Weiss et al. 2007), and 8% for bioretention per another (Normalized UNHSC Installation and Maintenance Cost Data).

Green Infrastructure Implementation Funding - Private Sector Costs Proposed as Offsets Paid by Benefiting Municipalities

How to fund green infrastructure and low impact
development stormwater management measures on
private property .... no easy answers. 

The report Economic Instruments to Facilitate Stormwater Management on Private Property is an interesting read, looking at how green infrastructure (GI) could be implemented and funded on private property to advance stormwater management goals. There is a link to the report.

The White Paper / study report explores the costs and benefits of green infrastructure, or low impact development (LID) measures, and looks at the barriers to implementation on private property - and there are many. These Barriers to the Implementation of LID Technologies include:

1. High up-front costs
2. Uncertain ongoing maintenance requriements
3. Low return on investment
4. Limited benefits accrue directly to property owners, yet they incur the high costs
5. High transaction costs

The report illustrates the types of costs and benefits under #4 in the following graphic:

Imbalance in public and private costs and benefits for green infrastructure / low impact development implementation.

The graphic illustrates that private costs are high, but the majority potential benefits are public.  Also, the private benefits are very low, like the potential reduction in stormwater management fees available to compensate for the GI or LID measures.

How high are the costs for implementing GI or LIDsfor improved stormwater management? Another interesting graphic shows annualized costs considering capital costs distributed over a 25 year service life (e.g., like annual depreciation of the asset) and annual operation and maintenance (O&M) cost.

LID capital and operation and maintenance costs greatly exceed the potential annual credit for stormwater fees. 

The report's impervious percentage of 20% seems too low
compared to typical urban development patterns in Ontario.
Typical residential percentages are double the report's
assumed value. Typical non-residential percentages can
even be higher (i.e., lots covered almost entirely by impermeable
roof top and parking lot surfaces.

The annual cost of LID measures averages about $5,000 per year considering a 'lot size' drainage area of 5000 square metres, or $10,000 per hectare. The cost estimates consider an area with 1000 square metres of impermeable area, meaning an impervious area percentage of 20% (i.e., very, very low for many urban areas ... meaning these average costs should be higher - see example impervious area coverage at right - while this is residential development, non-residential development has followed similar trends).

Given the disparity in costs and benefits, an obvious barrier to implementation of GI and LID on private property, what is proposed to incentivize implementation? Make someone else pay of course! Who pays? The Public Sector. They call this "OFFSETS" and explain it as follows:

"Offsets are payments offered to proponents of LID infrastructure in compensation
for costs incurred when significant benefits accrue to other parties. A principle of
equity or fairness underlies this type of compensation based on the argument that
costs should be borne proportionately by those who benefit from the green
investment.

Public sector contributions in the form of offsets are justified to achieve a balanced
approach to cost sharing that reflects how all costs and benefits are incurred. Doing
this requires identification and quantification of benefits.."

So ultimately, the idea is that the public pays regardless of whether GI or LID is implemented on public land or on private land. What could these costs be in Ontario and what are the impacts to Ontario taxpayers?

Ontario has over 850,000 hectares of urban land use that
does not have enhanced stormwater management control, and
could be eligible for green infrastructure (LID) retrofits.

Ontario's SOLRIS land use mapping indicates 852,000 hectares of urban land use as of the year 2000. Previously we've estimated the capital cost considering a unit cost of $390,000 per hectare based on Ontario tender costs - see image ar right. All this urban land would in all likelihood have no water quality treatment and be eligible for stormwater managment enhancements. How do we know? Table 1 in the Economic Instruments to Facilitate Stormwater Management on Private Property report indicates that despite the use of quality controls, "Use of enhanced controls is negligible." (see table below).

If we retrofit the untreated area with GI / LID, the annualized cost would be simply $10,000 per hectare x 852,000 hectares = $8.5 billion per year ... forever.

Assuming this cost is allocated to municipalities who benefit from the green infrastructure, and these municipalities distribute the cost to Ontario households, we can estimate the annual household cost. The 2016 census indicates that there are 5,169,170 private households in Ontario meaning a cost of $1650 per household per year. Given household after-tax income of $65,285, the green infrastructure cost would represent about 2.5% of this income.

The Ontario stormwater infrastructure deficit has been estimated at $6.8 billion. If green infrastructure / low impact development lifecycle costs are not funded annually by taxpayers, and debt is used to fund the infrastructure investment, like a green bond, this deficit would double in a single year, and increase by the more than the existing deficit each and every year.

Allocating GI / LID costs seems like a shell game.

Allocating GI / LID costs seems like a shell game, shifting private property costs to the public sector, shifting public sector costs to
the downstream municipalities that accrue potential benefits. In the end there is only one source of funding however.... all of us. Elaborate credit systems, offset schemes, Drainage Act assessments, and fancy 'green bonds' are ways of spreading out the high up-front cost of LIDs. But ultimately, we all pay.

It will be interesting to see the next stages of the study authors' work and how the White Paper could be applied. The report states for example "The White Paper also provides background for a pilot study to be undertaken in the Southdown area of Mississauga. This study will examine the potential of aggregating private commercial property under the Drainage Act to secure installation of communal LID technologies and realize cost-efficiencies." The exploration of the Drainage Act was part of another study under the banner "Aggregated Communal Approaches to Green Infrastructure Implementation". The Drainage Act allows costs to be distributed to landowners across catchments in which improvements are made - the challenge is that landowners against whom costs are assessed have to buy in to the cost-sharing plan and can appeal.

Lost Rivers and Urban Flooding - Review of Flood Risk Factors in Toronto Wards 13 / 14 - Decreasing Extreme Rainfall Trends, Increasing Urbanization and Intensification. Financially unsustainable green infrastructure.

Toronto Wards 13 / 14 Lost Rivers Overland Flow Paths
(image can be downloaded using link at bottom of post)

The following presentation to Toronto's Green 13 group explored the role of 'lost rivers' like Ward 13/14 Wendigo Creek and Spring Creek, in driving urban flood risk. Urbanization and intensification are revealed as key factors affecting runoff rates and flood risk. Extreme rainfall trends are shown to be decreasing in Toronto and other long term Ontario climate stations, indicating no impacts due to climate change. Variations in runoff rates are shown to be explained by changes in urbanization that increase runoff coefficients in the Don River since the mid sixties, as urbanization and intensification have increased. Insurance industry claims of more frequent severe weather are shown to be disproved by Environment and Climate Change Canada's Engineering Climate Datasets.

Lost Rivers & Urban Flooding, Media, Myths & Smart Mitigation - Toronto Wards 13 / 14 - Presentation to Green 13 from Robert Muir

Toronto lost rivers (aka overland flow paths) can be explored on the following interactive map - map is (c) CityFloodMap.Com. Note, approximate TRCA regulation boundaries were estimated from camaps.ca georeferenced image features, and TRCA shoreline/slope regulation areas and some natural heritage regulation areas have been excluded to focus more on where river flood risks exist:

View larger map

The Green 13 meeting handout illustrating Toronto Ward 13 / 14 lost rivers and overland flow paths is available at the following link:  handout file

Expensive Green Infrastructure Retrofits Unaffordable for Ontario Road Network - Low Impact Development's Financial Impact is Staggering

Ontario urban areas requiring LID retrofits with proposed
 MOECC policy on volume control for stormwater runoff

Get ready for municipal and provincial tax increases to pay for a new proposed green initiative in Ontario.

A previous post estimated the cost of proposed 'greening' policies in Ontario, specifically to retrofit the province with low impact development, LID, green infrastructure. The previous cost was determined considering urban areas defined in Ontario GIS datasets. The cost was $332 billion dollars considering a unit retrofit cost of $390,000 per hectare (10,000 sq.m) of catchment draining to each retrofit LID feature, which averages unit costs of completed projects as well as literature values for other LID technologies. The total cost considered 852,045 hectares of urban land in Ontario municipalities that does not have LID servicing according to high volume control targets proposed in draft MOECC LID guidance. But that cost excluded LID road retrofits in areas outside Ontario municipal boundaries. That old cost sounds like a bargain if we now add in the costs for roads outside municipalities! 

Ontario roadway network requiring GI green infrastructure retrofits with
proposed MOECC policy on volumetric controls for urban runoff / recharge

A new cost estimate based on Ontario's road network mapping and an awarded construction tender cost in York Region shows an even higher, unaffordable cost for low impact development, green infrastructure retrofits. The cost is $376 billion dollars with a $258 billion dollar cost for municipal roads and $118 billion dollars for roads outside municipalities. That total costs considers 278,307,020 kilometres of roadway in Ontario and a green infrastructure additional costs of $1.35 million per kilometre of LID retrofitted roadway. Roadways outside municipalities have a length of 87,203,550, according to GIS datasets available from the province.

Why look at Ontario roadways as the basis for assessing green infrastructure retrofits? Because the proposed Ontario policy for LID retrofits mandates the addition of this new infrastructure whenever a road is repaved or rebuilt and whenever new infrastructure is added (like a new sewer for flood control or a new watermain).

Here is the cost per each Ontario municipality for green road retrofits based on road lengths from Ontario GIS sources and the $1.35 million per kilometre unit retrofit cost:

Low Impact Development LID / Green Infrastructure Retrofit Cost per Ontario Municipality
LEGALNAME1 Ontario Municipality  per Open Data GIS Dataset	Roadway Length With LID Retrofit Required (metres)	Retrofit LID Cost at $1.35M Per Kilometre (Green Road Cost)
City of Barrie	609211.75	$822,435,863
City of Belleville	511338.39	$690,306,827
City of Brampton	1970211.528	$2,659,785,563
City of Brantford	531107.503	$716,995,129
City of Brockville	146093.801	$197,226,631
City of Burlington	972684.596	$1,313,124,205
City of Cambridge	712912.156	$962,431,411
City of Clarence-Rockland	392040.939	$529,255,268
City of Cornwall	303512.987	$409,742,532
City of Dryden	180764.392	$244,031,929
City of Elliot Lake	394905.447	$533,122,353
City of Greater Sudbury	2693460.888	$3,636,172,199
City of Guelph	619596.026	$836,454,635
City of Hamilton	3542392.528	$4,782,229,913
City of Kawartha Lakes	3252603.987	$4,391,015,382
City of Kenora	362644.032	$489,569,443
City of Kingston	1094613.238	$1,477,727,871
City of Kitchener	1032717.523	$1,394,168,656
City of London	1990808.466	$2,687,591,429
City of Mississauga	2443271.925	$3,298,417,099
City of Niagara Falls	863326.67	$1,165,491,005
City of North Bay	673623.501	$909,391,726
City of Orillia	202702.678	$273,648,615
City of Oshawa	744481.595	$1,005,050,153
City of Ottawa	6990005.798	$9,436,507,827
City of Owen Sound	131376.175	$177,357,836
City of Pembroke	105894.431	$142,957,482
City of Peterborough	433936.725	$585,814,579
City of Pickering	647494.477	$874,117,544
City of Port Colborne	339912.941	$458,882,470
City of Prince Edward County	1123901.013	$1,517,266,368
City of Quinte West	862893.943	$1,164,906,823
City of Sarnia	622722.771	$840,675,741
City of Sault Ste. Marie	580594.497	$783,802,571
City of St. Catharines	797352.234	$1,076,425,516
City of St. Thomas	207006.43	$279,458,680
City of Stratford	186998.578	$252,448,080
City of Temiskaming Shores	309026.51	$417,185,788
City of Thorold	263606.99	$355,869,437
City of Thunder Bay	938653.173	$1,267,181,784
City of Timmins	863127.741	$1,165,222,450
City of Toronto	6657317.792	$8,987,379,019
City of Vaughan	1437527.578	$1,940,662,230
City of Waterloo	549894.14	$742,357,089
City of Welland	405113.246	$546,902,882
City of Windsor	1325026.504	$1,788,785,780
City of Woodstock	290832.431	$392,623,782
County of Brant	1360738.654	$1,836,997,183
Haldimand County	1544911.091	$2,085,629,973
Municipality of Arran-Elderslie	473630.036	$639,400,549
Municipality of Bayham	317616.616	$428,782,432
Municipality of Bluewater	526055.641	$710,175,115
Municipality of Brighton	342695.313	$462,638,673
Municipality of Brockton	587083.158	$792,562,263
Municipality of Brooke-Alvinston	313557.134	$423,302,131
Municipality of Callander	108899.059	$147,013,730
Municipality of Central Elgin	371697.958	$501,792,243
Municipality of Central Huron	548817.082	$740,903,061
Municipality of Centre Hastings	225959.657	$305,045,537
Municipality of Charlton and Dack	80220.698	$108,297,942
Municipality of Chatham-Kent	3637304.9	$4,910,361,615
Municipality of Clarington	1241185.755	$1,675,600,769
Municipality of Dutton/Dunwich	367777.33	$496,499,396
Municipality of French River	340502.493	$459,678,366
Municipality of Gordon / Barrie Island	186732.419	$252,088,766
Municipality of Greenstone	773001.1	$1,043,551,485
Municipality of Grey Highlands	876546.751	$1,183,338,114
Municipality of Hastings Highlands	745040.14	$1,005,804,189
Municipality of Highlands East	716014.551	$966,619,644
Municipality of Huron East	727266.639	$981,809,963
Municipality of Huron Shores	486565.585	$656,863,540
Municipality of Killarney	128569.832	$173,569,273
Municipality of Kincardine	636138.048	$858,786,365
Municipality of Lambton Shores	546814.48	$738,199,548
Municipality of Leamington	410712.656	$554,462,086
Municipality of Magnetawan	352908.348	$476,426,270
Municipality of Markstay-Warren	273184.478	$368,799,045
Municipality of Marmora and Lake	278156.36	$375,511,086
Municipality of McDougall	278164.957	$375,522,692
Municipality of Meaford	568453.205	$767,411,827
Municipality of Middlesex Centre	799312.314	$1,079,071,624
Municipality of Morris-Turnberry	359703.452	$485,599,660
Municipality of Neebing	566143.4	$764,293,590
Municipality of North Grenville	518411.883	$699,856,042
Municipality of North Middlesex	635555.6	$858,000,060
Municipality of North Perth	543091.778	$733,173,900
Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula	587259.546	$792,800,387
Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge	367118.28	$495,609,678
Municipality of Port Hope	438825.219	$592,414,046
Municipality of Powassan	199408.819	$269,201,906
Municipality of Red Lake	157031.392	$211,992,379
Municipality of Shuniah	401885.724	$542,545,727
Municipality of Sioux Lookout	244535.551	$330,122,994
Municipality of South Bruce	503807.529	$680,140,164
Municipality of South Huron	478854.274	$646,453,270
Municipality of Southwest Middlesex	536734.657	$724,591,787
Municipality of St.-Charles	127228.602	$171,758,613
Municipality of Temagami	1884132.957	$2,543,579,492
Municipality of Thames Centre	557452.228	$752,560,508
Municipality of the Nation	666833.16	$900,224,766
Municipality of Trent Hills	684788.245	$924,464,131
Municipality of Tweed	516288.753	$696,989,817
Municipality of Wawa	138464.435	$186,926,987
Municipality of West Elgin	411372.456	$555,352,816
Municipality of West Grey	910801.499	$1,229,582,024
Municipality of West Nipissing	1980866.136	$2,674,169,284
Municipality of West Perth	635020.33	$857,277,445
Municipality of Whitestone	328691.713	$443,733,813
Norfolk County	2147169.561	$2,898,678,907
Town of Ajax	464279.651	$626,777,529
Town of Amherstburg	325249.136	$439,086,334
Town of Arnprior	79360.952	$107,137,285
Town of Aurora	269299.074	$363,553,750
Town of Aylmer	42152.021	$56,905,228
Town of Bancroft	207944.632	$280,725,253
Town of Blind River	258574.508	$349,075,586
Town of Bracebridge	675275.312	$911,621,671
Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury	365127.572	$492,922,222
Town of Bruce Mines	20364.997	$27,492,746
Town of Caledon	1071922.44	$1,447,095,294
Town of Carleton Place	66024.627	$89,133,246
Town of Cobalt	16076.321	$21,703,033
Town of Cobourg	145245.652	$196,081,630
Town of Cochrane	299050.764	$403,718,531
Town of Collingwood	184447.122	$249,003,615
Town of Deep River	110191.63	$148,758,700
Town of Deseronto	15718.621	$21,220,138
Town of East Gwillimbury	408145.785	$550,996,810
Town of Englehart	16809.68	$22,693,068
Town of Erin	364205.649	$491,677,626
Town of Espanola	97189.573	$131,205,924
Town of Essex	452002.584	$610,203,488
Town of Fort Erie	589570.242	$795,919,827
Town of Fort Frances	85080.966	$114,859,304
Town of Gananoque	46461.681	$62,723,269
Town of Georgina	579886.843	$782,847,238
Town of Goderich	72756.121	$98,220,763
Town of Gore Bay	19487.885	$26,308,645
Town of Gravenhurst	733781.335	$990,604,802
Town of Greater Napanee	511466.933	$690,480,360
Town of Grimsby	251820.813	$339,958,098
Town of Halton Hills	531445.601	$717,451,561
Town of Hanover	53897.404	$72,761,495
Town of Hawkesbury	58832.159	$79,423,415
Town of Hearst	99949.439	$134,931,743
Town of Huntsville	821582.761	$1,109,136,727
Town of Ingersoll	85720.272	$115,722,367
Town of Innisfil	573651.096	$774,428,980
Town of Iroquois Falls	295127.011	$398,421,465
Town of Kapuskasing	123221.579	$166,349,132
Town of Kearney	533097.986	$719,682,281
Town of Kingsville	446498.878	$602,773,485
Town of Kirkland Lake	95204.891	$128,526,603
Town of Lakeshore	905414.526	$1,222,309,610
Town of Lasalle	220848.528	$298,145,513
Town of Latchford	157348.309	$212,420,217
Town of Laurentian Hills	1107806.058	$1,495,538,178
Town of Lincoln	450686.8	$608,427,180
Town of Marathon	77083.984	$104,063,378
Town of Markham	1397425.979	$1,886,525,072
Town of Mattawa	27509.98	$37,138,473
Town of Midland	149073.214	$201,248,839
Town of Milton	836239.235	$1,128,922,967
Town of Minto	323938.9	$437,317,515
Town of Mississippi Mills	491706.164	$663,803,321
Town of Mono	346690.541	$468,032,230
Town of Moosonee	61657.614	$83,237,779
Town of New Tecumseth	422609.534	$570,522,871
Town of Newmarket	314408.47	$424,451,435
Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake	395114.46	$533,404,521
Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands	283205.93	$382,328,006
Town of Oakville	982334.902	$1,326,152,118
Town of Orangeville	126976.695	$171,418,538
Town of Parry Sound	64337.777	$86,855,999
Town of Pelham	288845.968	$389,942,057
Town of Penetanguishene	102355.421	$138,179,818
Town of Perth	48111.989	$64,951,185
Town of Petawawa	311887.38	$421,047,963
Town of Petrolia	48165.789	$65,023,815
Town of Plympton-Wyoming	408769.281	$551,838,529
Town of Prescott	38686.203	$52,226,374
Town of Rainy River	17209.322	$23,232,585
Town of Renfrew	69354.518	$93,628,599
Town of Richmond Hill	688323.893	$929,237,256
Town of Saugeen Shores	306747.783	$414,109,507
Town of Shelburne	35743.102	$48,253,188
Town of Smiths Falls	68365.875	$92,293,931
Town of Smooth Rock Falls	79871.583	$107,826,637
Town of South Bruce Peninsula	586613.57	$791,928,319
Town of Spanish	47908.552	$64,676,545
Town of St. Marys	59296.848	$80,050,745
Town of Tecumseh	281423.843	$379,922,188
Town of the Blue Mountains	371581.89	$501,635,552
Town of Thessalon	25209.716	$34,033,117
Town of Tillsonburg	131618.723	$177,685,276
Town of Wasaga Beach	268670.559	$362,705,255
Town of Whitby	674167.595	$910,126,253
Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville	466689.699	$630,031,094
Township of Addington Highlands	591316.843	$798,277,738
Township of Adelaide-Metcalfe	360395.038	$486,533,301
Township of Adjala-Tosorontio	412807.018	$557,289,474
Township of Admaston/Bromley	428521.518	$578,504,049
Township of Alberton	82158.406	$110,913,848
Township of Alfred and Plantagenet	410060.47	$553,581,635
Township of Algonquin Highlands	1001759.859	$1,352,375,810
Township of Alnwick/Haldimand	533661.735	$720,443,342
Township of Amaranth	299053.848	$403,722,695
Township of Armour	195124.622	$263,418,240
Township of Armstrong	87254.96	$117,794,196
Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh	625708.955	$844,707,089
Township of Asphodel-Norwood	207208.151	$279,731,004
Township of Assiginack	184054.954	$248,474,188
Township of Athens	122669.414	$165,603,709
Township of Atikokan	210339.319	$283,958,081
Township of Augusta	332621.746	$449,039,357
Township of Baldwin	42295.904	$57,099,470
Township of Beckwith	276789.592	$373,665,949
Township of Billings	174653.773	$235,782,594
Township of Black River-Matheson	511572.46	$690,622,821
Township of Blandford-Blenheim	466096.319	$629,230,031
Township of Bonfield	224340.81	$302,860,093
Township of Bonnechere Valley	568149.944	$767,002,424
Township of Brethour	48856.465	$65,956,228
Township of Brock	526774.919	$711,146,141
Township of Brudenell, Lyndoch and Raglan	831333.656	$1,122,300,436
Township of Burpee and Mills	115289.638	$155,641,011
Township of Calvin	152558.53	$205,954,015
Township of Carling	213345.777	$288,016,799
Township of Carlow/Mayo	224345.236	$302,866,069
Township of Casey	72437.905	$97,791,172
Township of Cavan-Monaghan	385797.411	$520,826,505
Township of Central Frontenac	695205.884	$938,527,943
Township of Central Manitoulin	361506.578	$488,033,880
Township of Centre Wellington	619625.378	$836,494,260
Township of Chamberlain	87018.941	$117,475,570
Township of Champlain	228098.586	$307,933,091
Township of Chapleau	29081.644	$39,260,219
Township of Chapple	311635.629	$420,708,099
Township of Chatsworth	601718.275	$812,319,671
Township of Chisholm	206489.366	$278,760,644
Township of Clearview	629191.652	$849,408,730
Township of Coleman	181722.915	$245,325,935
Township of Conmee	126593.165	$170,900,773
Township of Cramahe	309178.344	$417,390,764
Township of Dawn-Euphemia	522805.062	$705,786,834
Township of Dawson	237410.684	$320,504,423
Township of Dorion	191073.903	$257,949,769
Township of Douro-Dummer	430814.376	$581,599,408
Township of Drummond/North Elmsley	406955.991	$549,390,588
Township of Dubreuilville	80899.864	$109,214,816
Township of Ear Falls	133729.338	$180,534,606
Township of East Ferris	191300.404	$258,255,545
Township of East Garafraxa	195402.812	$263,793,796
Township of East Hawkesbury	259167.931	$349,876,707
Township of East Luther Grand Valley	163781.414	$221,104,909
Township of East Zorra-Tavistock	281994.21	$380,692,183
Township of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal	373730.18	$504,535,743
Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley	541706.306	$731,303,513
Township of Emo	133270.426	$179,915,075
Township of Enniskillen	320615.56	$432,831,006
Township of Essa	341697.212	$461,291,236
Township of Evanturel	84821.571	$114,509,121
Township of Faraday	182460.043	$246,321,058
Township of Fauquier-Strickland	346889.692	$468,301,084
Township of Front of Yonge	155914.801	$210,484,981
Township of Frontenac Islands	223025.36	$301,084,236
Township of Galway-Cavendish and Harvey	668382.213	$902,315,988
Township of Gauthier	36240.843	$48,925,138
Township of Georgian Bay	1138404.474	$1,536,846,040
Township of Georgian Bluffs	565633.703	$763,605,499
Township of Gillies	80726.11	$108,980,249
Township of Greater Madawaska	1096522.321	$1,480,305,133
Township of Guelph/Eramosa	348024.638	$469,833,261
Township of Hamilton	413236.447	$557,869,203
Township of Harley	93682.365	$126,471,193
Township of Harris	67468.497	$91,082,471
Township of Havelock-Belmont-Methuen	492837.956	$665,331,241
Township of Head, Clara and Maria	1100836.108	$1,486,128,746
Township of Hilliard	71298.048	$96,252,365
Township of Hilton	134205.645	$181,177,621
Township of Hornepayne	67535.621	$91,173,088
Township of Horton	183048.22	$247,115,097
Township of Howick	323191.264	$436,308,206
Township of Hudson	114012.68	$153,917,118
Township of Huron-Kinloss	510866.435	$689,669,687
Township of Ignace	53726.418	$72,530,664
Township of James	38561.013	$52,057,368
Township of Jocelyn	138472.153	$186,937,407
Township of Johnson	129152.633	$174,356,055
Township of Joly	138926.603	$187,550,914
Township of Kerns	72252.459	$97,540,820
Township of Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards	419923.023	$566,896,081
Township of King	511603.128	$690,664,223
Township of La Vallee	161565.322	$218,113,185
Township of Laird	129711.819	$175,110,956
Township of Lake of Bays	706825.761	$954,214,777
Township of Lake of the Woods	168147.366	$226,998,944
Township of Lanark Highlands	730141.745	$985,691,356
Township of Larder Lake	54658.155	$73,788,509
Township of Laurentian Valley	631360.54	$852,336,729
Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands	709493.998	$957,816,897
Township of Limerick	158475.284	$213,941,633
Township of Loyalist	419060.734	$565,731,991
Township of Lucan Biddulph	179608.308	$242,471,216
Township of Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional	148981.378	$201,124,860
Township of Machar	163695.145	$220,988,446
Township of Machin	263325.06	$355,488,831
Township of Madawaska Valley	877412.68	$1,184,507,118
Township of Madoc	219539.625	$296,378,494
Township of Malahide	437657.466	$590,837,579
Township of Manitouwadge	57177.357	$77,189,432
Township of Mapleton	560984.13	$757,328,575
Township of Matachewan	103072.967	$139,148,505
Township of Mattawan	344897.423	$465,611,521
Township of Mattice-Val Côté	95378.273	$128,760,669
Township of McGarry	33570.823	$45,320,611
Township of McKellar	139461.414	$188,272,909
Township of McMurrich-Monteith	149589.032	$201,945,193
Township of McNab/Braeside	319334.617	$431,101,733
Township of Melancthon	333520.671	$450,252,906
Township of Minden Hills	779964.122	$1,052,951,565
Township of Montague	223674.913	$301,961,133
Township of Moonbeam	133002.408	$179,553,251
Township of Morley	216959.676	$292,895,563
Township of Mulmur	299503.381	$404,329,564
Township of Muskoka Lakes	1161698.953	$1,568,293,587
Township of Nairn and Hyman	74891.495	$101,103,518
Township of Nipigon	60340.843	$81,460,138
Township of Nipissing	212188.627	$286,454,646
Township of North Algona Wilberforce	381456.138	$514,965,786
Township of North Dumfries	289747.239	$391,158,773
Township of North Dundas	547013.455	$738,468,164
Township of North Frontenac	672059.243	$907,279,978
Township of North Glengarry	613801.404	$828,631,895
Township of North Huron	213074.403	$287,650,444
Township of North Kawartha	529539.749	$714,878,661
Township of North Stormont	480349.235	$648,471,467
Township of Norwich	548449.737	$740,407,145
Township of O'Connor	86238.645	$116,422,171
Township of Opasatika	67522.379	$91,155,212
Township of Oro-Medonte	874662.256	$1,180,794,046
Township of Otonabee-South Monaghan	425364.485	$574,242,055
Township of Papineau-Cameron	885874.698	$1,195,930,842
Township of Pelee	69418.636	$93,715,159
Township of Perry	222366.071	$300,194,196
Township of Perth East	729113.274	$984,302,920
Township of Perth South	371548.972	$501,591,112
Township of Pickle Lake	122105.951	$164,843,034
Township of Plummer Additional	200011.721	$270,015,823
Township of Prince	50140.005	$67,689,007
Township of Puslinch	340140.103	$459,189,139
Township of Ramara	487067.132	$657,540,628
Township of Red Rock	32506.443	$43,883,698
Township of Rideau Lakes	951878.09	$1,285,035,422
Township of Russell	284287.986	$383,788,781
Township of Ryerson	123051.135	$166,119,032
Township of Sables-Spanish Rivers	377357.127	$509,432,121
Township of Schreiber	22597.321	$30,506,383
Township of Scugog	602260.906	$813,052,223
Township of Seguin	671234.044	$906,165,959
Township of Severn	812368.461	$1,096,697,422
Township of Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls	405012.076	$546,766,303
Township of Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield	538607.327	$727,119,891
Township of South-West Oxford	446958.837	$603,394,430
Township of South Algonquin	1019119.914	$1,375,811,884
Township of South Dundas	634243.59	$856,228,847
Township of South Frontenac	1063377.171	$1,435,559,181
Township of South Glengarry	686396.357	$926,635,082
Township of South Stormont	542344.264	$732,164,756
Township of Southgate	611738.5	$825,846,975
Township of Southwold	370682.321	$500,421,133
Township of Springwater	642081.943	$866,810,623
Township of St. Clair	733226.746	$989,856,107
Township of St. Joseph	188945.745	$255,076,756
Township of Stirling-Rawdon	282663.086	$381,595,166
Township of Stone Mills	565690.305	$763,681,912
Township of Strathroy-Caradoc	453458.052	$612,168,370
Township of Strong	213603.785	$288,365,110
Township of Tarbutt and Tarbutt Additional	69658.612	$94,039,126
Township of Tay	275816.685	$372,352,525
Township of Tay Valley	635624.736	$858,093,394
Township of Tehkummah	92425.55	$124,774,493
Township of Terrace Bay	75824.959	$102,363,695
Township of the Archipelago	338958.622	$457,594,140
Township of the North Shore	125531.685	$169,467,775
Township of Tiny	527800.318	$712,530,429
Township of Tudor and Cashel	200594.785	$270,802,960
Township of Tyendinaga	318107.995	$429,445,793
Township of Uxbridge	472508.995	$637,887,143
Township of Val Rita-Harty	98061.395	$132,382,883
Township of Wainfleet	365592.281	$493,549,579
Township of Warwick	329161.013	$444,367,368
Township of Wellesley	306139.172	$413,287,882
Township of Wellington North	522294.311	$705,097,320
Township of West Lincoln	510034.714	$688,546,864
Township of White River	57307.86	$77,365,611
Township of Whitewater Region	593988.5	$801,884,475
Township of Wilmot	405100.184	$546,885,248
Township of Wollaston	137561.126	$185,707,520
Township of Woolwich	499580.27	$674,433,365
Township of Zorra	629535.545	$849,872,986
United Townships of Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde	982302.439	$1,326,108,293
Village of Burk's Falls	15935.807	$21,513,339
Village of Casselman	32924.076	$44,447,503
Village of Hilton Beach	9417.124	$12,713,117
Village of Merrickville-Wolford	165185.505	$223,000,432
Village of Newbury	8292.416	$11,194,762
Village of Oil Springs	17105.186	$23,092,001
Village of Point Edward	34901.939	$47,117,618
Village of South River	18602.01	$25,112,713
Village of Sundridge	15806.683	$21,339,022
Village of Thornloe	8806.679	$11,889,017
Village of Westport	8501.531	$11,477,067
Ontario	87,203,550.00	$117,724,792,500
Total	278,307,020 km	$ 375,714,476,425