The City of Brooks is responsible for overseeing the maintenance, repair, improvement and expansion of storm water sewers, drainage ditches, catch basins, outfalls, retention ponds and pumping stations. This intricate system moves surface runoff from rainfall and snowmelt off the streets, into catch basins, along the pipe/ditch network, and into the inter-connected retention ponds. When the system is not well maintained, working properly or of sufficient size, there’s a potential for severe public/private property damage due to overland flooding.
The system includes 616 catch basins, ditches (such as the Marshall Drain), 43 km of underground storm sewer lines, and nine retention ponds which are connected to each other via pumps and pipelines. Eventually, storm water from the City goes into the One Tree Canal, into One Tree Creek, into the Red Deer River and then into the South Saskatchewan River.