Rain Ready Homes

Rain is an essential part of life, but too much rain can cause flooding, erosion and pollution. As climate change progresses, we are seeing more frequent and intense rain storms.

Taking small actions at home can reduce the harmful impacts of stormwater runoff.

Help protect your family, home, community and the environment by making your home rain ready!

Rain Ready Challenge (August 1 - 31)

Share a picture and a short description of what you're doing to prevent or prepare your home from flooding, and you could win a Rain Ready swag bag!

E-mail photo submissions by August 31st to: growgreen@brampton.ca.

Submissions can include but are not limited to:

Practices you and your family are taking to actively prevent and prepare for flooding (i.e., clearing catchbasins, elevating items in your basement, cleaning eavestroughs and gutters, proper grading around the house, checking to ensure your sump pump is working, etc.)
Upgrades to your property to manage stormwater and reduce the risk of flooding (i.e., installing backflow prevention valves, installing permeable pavers, using a rain barrel, planting a rain garden, etc)

Check out the Grow Green social media channels (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) for updates on the challenge throughout the month of August.

Rain Ready Champion

Check out the latest submission to the Rain Ready Challenge by downtown Brampton resident Karli M!

Karli added a double downspout extender to move water away from their home’s foundation and toward the lawn, allowing it to be infiltrated where it can most benefit the mature tree canopy.

YOU can be Rain Ready like Karli and divert your downspout away from your home. This helps prevent stormwater from seeping into the ground and causing cracks or leaks in your basement walls and foundation, and around windows or doors.

Become a Rain Ready Champion and participate in the Challenge!

Image 1 - Double downspout extender (Photo by Karli M.)

Image 2 - Double downspout extender (Photo by Karli M.)

Image 3 - Elevated items in the basement (Photo by Linda B.)

Flood Protection

How can I protect my home from flooding?
Here are some steps you can take to protect your home from flooding:

Watch where the stormwater goes. The best time to learn about stormwater on your property is by watching where it goes when it rains. Take a walk around the outside of your home to see if stormwater is pooling in an area. If you see standing pools of stormwater this might mean that there are problems with your property’s drainage.

Check the slope of your yard and the placement of roof downspouts. The ground around your house should slope downwards, away from the foundation and next-door properties. To check the slope on your property, place a tennis ball on the ground near an outside wall. The ball should roll away from the outside wall. Roof downspouts should extend at least two metres away from your foundation and away from your neighbour’s property. If your downspout is too close, install an extension or a long splash pad to carry water away from the foundation.

Keep your eavestroughs, roof downspouts, and drains clear. If eavestroughs, roof downspouts, and drains get clogged, stormwater can start pooling in an area rather than draining away. Remember to remove litter and debris like leaves and grass from your eavestroughs, roof downspouts, and drains. Make sure to check the top and bottom, and the curved parts of your roof downspouts. Consider gutter guards or leaf screens to prevent debris from getting into the eavestroughs.

Cover any construction material or stockpiles to prevent debris from going into the storm sewers. When dirt, sand, clay, silt, or other materials are exposed to rain, they can be washed away and clog storm sewers that help move stormwater away from your home. Make sure to cover any of these materials with a tarp or move it under a shaded area to prevent them from entering the City’s stormwater drainage system.

Visit the Brampton Emergency Management Office webpage to learn more about keeping your home and families safe during weather-related emergencies.
How can I make my yard rain ready?
Here are some of the things you can do in your yard to help protect the environment from the impacts of stormwater like flooding, erosion and pollution.

Remove unused or unnecessary pavement. Removing pavement or other hard surfaces around your property helps absorb more rain before it becomes stormwater runoff.

Replace hard surfaces with permeable pavement. You can replace pavement with permeable pavement. Permeable pavements should be located down-gradient from building foundations. If the permeable pavement receives drainage from other surfaces, it must be installed at least four metres down-gradient from the building foundation.

Replace grass and artificial lawns with native plants, shrubs, and trees. During bigger storms, grass lawns are not deep enough to absorb all the stormwater. Artificial lawns don’t absorb any stormwater. When the lawn stops or does not absorb any stormwater it ends up in the City’s stormwater drainage system.

Grass lawns and artificial lawns need a lot of water and work to stay nice looking. If you’re looking to replace your grass or artificial lawn, try planting gardens with native plants, shrubs, and trees in their place. Native plants need less fertilizer and water than ornamental plants. Check Credit Valley Conservation's rain-ready plant list to discover native plants and shrubs that help manage stormwater.

Use deep garden beds and lots of mulch. By installing and maintaining deep soil beds and using mulch, you can save on the cost of watering your gardens. Deep soil and mulch help absorb and retain stormwater, helping keep your gardens from drying up.

Install rain barrels. You can save costs on watering your gardens by installing a rain barrel. A rain barrel is a container that catches stormwater from a roof downspout. The stormwater is collected and stored in the barrel so it can be reused to water your lawn and garden during dry summer days.
Will flooding damage my home during heavy rainfall in Brampton?
During heavy rainfall stormwater flooding can cause damage to your home if the stormwater is not managed properly. Managing stormwater and drainage on your property is the responsibility of the homeowner.
If your home’s eavestroughs, downspouts, and property slopes are not maintained, stormwater can seep into the ground around your home’s foundation. This can cause cracks or leaks in the basement walls and foundation, and around windows or doors.
I have a rain barrel installed at home, am I eligible for credit on my stormwater charge?
Single residential homes are not eligible for a credit on their stormwater charge. A single rain barrel provides some watering savings for the homeowner but many rain barrels would be needed to provide a measurable benefit in stormwater services. Roofs on single residential homes create a lot of stormwater during a regular summer storm (5 mm of rainfall). Homeowners with medium-sized roofs (180m2) need to install 5 rain barrels to help protect local rivers and creeks from erosion.

During a larger summer storm (25 mm of rainfall) homeowners with medium-sized roofs would need to install over 23 rain barrels to help prevent pollution in nearby rivers and creeks.

During an extreme 100-year storm (140 mm of rainfall), homeowners would have to install 126 rain barrels to hold all of the stormwater coming from a 180m2 roof.
How do I find local flood risk information?
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) and the Brampton Emergency Management Office (BEMO) offer information and resources to support homeowners in understanding flood risks.
- Regional flood mapping is available through TRCA’s Flood Plain Map Viewer and CVC’s Regulation Mapping.
- Real time monitoring is available as part of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Program. TRCA & CVC operate rain and flow monitoring gauge networks, which continually monitor in-stream water levels at dams and river stations as well as collecting rainfall amounts.
- Sign up for CVC flood messages: CVC issues flood warning messages to municipal emergency management officials and the media about potential thread to people and property. Messages can be found on their homepage, Facebook account and Twitter account.
- Sign up for TRCA flood messages: Residents can sign up to receive flood messages directly from TRCA by following them on Twitter or signing up online.
- Visit Alertable.ca or Download the “Alertable” app to get Canada-wide real time flood and other public emergency alerts.
- Visit Brampton Emergency Management Office (BEMO) for resources to be prepared for any emergency.
How do I use the Residential Guide to Flood Prevention and Recovery?
The Residential Guide to Flood Prevention and Recovery is broken down into the following categories – visit these sections for tips on topics most relevant to you.
- Types of Flooding & Flooding Prevention (dark blue section): page 4-8
- General Preparation Before a Flood (orange section): page 9-13
- During a Flood (purple section): page 14-16
- After a Flood (light green section): page 17-23
- Health Considerations (light blue section): page 24-27
- Repairing Your Home (dark green section): page 28

Rain​ Ready Challenge (August 1 - 31)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Rain Ready Champion

Flood Protection

Rain Ready Challenge (August 1 - 31)