Stormwater ponds

Stormwater ponds help protect neighbourhoods from flooding. Learn how to stay safe around them, which ponds are stormwater facilities, and their role in our drainage system.

Stormwater ponds are a part of our neighbourhoods

Do not enter warning sign in front of a stormwater pond

Edmonton has many safe places to swim and paddle, but stormwater ponds are not one of them.

Stormwater ponds are an important part of Edmonton’s drainage system — built to help protect your neighbourhood from flooding. Beneath the surface, these ponds are always moving and working hard.

There's more below than you know.

Stay back. Stay out. Stay safe.

Here's what you need to know about stormwater ponds.

Stay safe around stormwater ponds
- Summer safety
How to tell if your community pond is a stormwater facility
Why stormwater ponds are important

Keep your community safe

If you see someone recreating on a stormwater pond, report the activity to us at 780-412-4500. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.

Stay safe around stormwater ponds

Stormwater management facilities, often called stormwater ponds, are constantly in motion, with more happening beneath the surface and near the edge than you might expect.

The constant motion creates unsafe conditions for recreational activities like boating and swimming in the summer or skating and sledding in the winter.

Learn how to stay safe around these facilities all year long.

Summer Safety
Winter Safety

Summer safety

Stormwater ponds might look like regular community lakes, but they’re actually hard-working parts of your neighbourhood’s drainage system. They help manage rain and spring runoff to prevent flooding — especially during storms.

Here’s how to enjoy the area safely this summer:

Stay off the water

These ponds aren’t for swimming, wading, or boating — the water can contain road runoff and other pollutants.
The bottom is muddy and slippery, making it easy to get stuck.
Keep kids and pets away. Even shallow areas can be dangerous due to soft, silty ground.

Stick to paths

Stay on marked trails. Ensure kids and pets keep a safe distance from the water's edge, especially during or after a rainstorm.
Water levels can rise quickly due to underground pipes and constant moving water. This is normal and part of how the pond works.

What happens during heavy rain

Stormwater ponds fill up fast to protect homes and streets from flooding.
Rising water levels are expected — it means the system is working!
EPCOR monitors and maintains these ponds to keep everything running smoothly.

If your property backs onto a pond

Store valuables away from the property line in case water levels rise.
Keep items like gas cans, fertilizers, and other materials safely stored away from the property line to protect water quality.

For a list of safe places to swim outdoors, view the City of Edmonton’s outdoor pool map.

For a list of safe places to walk your dog off leash, view the City of Edmonton’s off-leash dog park map.

Think twice. Don't go on the ice.

You might know them as community ponds, but they are actually working facilities and they aren’t safe for any type of recreation including sledding, skating and walking.

Ice thickness is unpredictable because there are working pipes that keep water continuously flowing beneath the frozen top layer and contaminants like road salt can melt the ice from underneath.
Ice depth varies across the whole surface. It might appear thick in some areas, while other areas may have very thin or no ice.
It’s difficult to see unsafe ice conditions from the surface.
Snow may be covering hazards.
Water continuously flows beneath the surface, reducing ice integrity.

Skate safe in your community

Community league ice rink grant

We want Edmontonians to embrace winter and be able to participate in some of our most beloved outdoor winter activities like skating and hockey. That’s why each year, we provide community league grants to help cover the costs of setting up an ice rink where community members can play and skate safely.

Interested? Learn about how your community league can take advantage of this grant by emailing stormwatersafety@epcor.com.

Find a safe place to skate

Check out the City of Edmonton's list of outdoor skating facilities.

How to tell if your community pond is a stormwater facility

Most ponds in Edmonton are stormwater management facilities and are marked with signs. These ponds are not safe for any type of recreational use. View our map of stormwater ponds in Edmonton:

Why stormwater ponds are important

Stormwater facilities help prevent flooding

Stormwater management facilities play a big role in keeping neighbourhoods safe from flooding. These facilities, or ponds, collect and hold rainfall and snowmelt until it is slowly released back to our river, creeks and streams.

In urban areas like Edmonton, roofs, roads and parking lots prevent water from soaking into the ground. When heavy rainstorms or snowmelt occur, runoff that is not absorbed into the ground enters stormwater facilities through catch basins and natural surfaces. In Edmonton, stormwater runoff is managed by:

64,000+

Catch basins

3,400km+

Stormwater sewer pipes

240+

Stormwater ponds

40+

Dry ponds

Stormwater ponds help improve our river's water quality

Stormwater ponds improve the quality of water that flows into our rivers and creeks. As rain and melting snow run off roofs, roads, and sidewalks, they pick up dirt and pollutants like fertilizers, pesticides, vehicle fluids, and road salt. Stormwater ponds are built to help filter this water. They slow it down, allowing dirt and pollution to settle at the bottom or get absorbed by plants around the pond before the water is returned to our natural waterways.

Protect our river - don't release fish into stormwater ponds

Did you know? Aquatic invasive species pose a risk to local waterways and the river. Invasive fish can grow big in a natural environment - much bigger than when they are in an aquarium. They also reproduce a lot, which means they can take over native fish populations and harm the ecosystem. It’s important to prevent them from reaching these waterways.

Help protect our waterways from aquatic invasive species.