Natural Infrastructure for Water Quality

Natural infrastructure works, and it can do more than many people realize. This implementation guide demonstrates how the protection and restoration of natural systems, like wetlands, riparian areas, grasslands, and forests, or the construction of naturalized systems, like rain gardens, green roofs, stormwater ponds, and soil cells, can help Prairie communities address growing water quality challenges. Drawing on proven evidence and case studies from across Canada, it shows how natural infrastructure can move from a promising concept to a practical and scalable part of everyday decision making and infrastructure service delivery. 

Focusing on water quality, the guide explains how natural infrastructure functions help slow, filter, and absorb water across watersheds, reducing sediment, nutrients, and other pollutants before they reach downstream communities. These benefits can be achieved through natural infrastructure alone or in combination with conventional grey infrastructure. In addition to improving water quality, natural infrastructure provides co-benefits that can reduce flood risk, enhance drought resilience and water supply, support biodiversity, and strengthen long-term climate resilience. 

Developed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development and Associated Engineering, the guide translates a growing body of research into practical information for planners, infrastructure owners, watershed organizations, Indigenous nations and Knowledge Holders, practitioners, land managers, educators, investors, and policy-makers. It identifies opportunities to integrate natural infrastructure into planning, policy, investment, land management, and infrastructure decision making across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and beyond. 

The guide emphasizes that achieving widespread adoption of natural infrastructure requires action beyond individual projects. While local projects are important, lasting impact depends on creating the conditions needed to implement, maintain, and scale natural infrastructure across communities and watersheds. To support this transition, the guide identifies five interconnected action areas that together enable a more resilient and effective natural infrastructure system:

• mandated policy and standards
• long-term, predictable investment
• clear roles and shared responsibility
• right people, materials, and skills
• asset management and long-term performance 

For each action area, the guide outlines priority actions, implementation considerations, and examples that can help organizations move from planning to action. It encourages governments and decision-makers to integrate nature into the planning, funding, delivery, and management of infrastructure, recognizing that resilient watersheds and communities depend on coordinated action across the landscape, from headwaters to downstream communities. 

The guide is one of three publications in the Prairie Natural Infrastructure Guide Series. Together, the guides explore how natural infrastructure can strengthen drought mitigation, secure water supply, provide flood protection, improve water quality, and support sustainable water management across the Canadian Prairies. By highlighting practical pathways for implementation and scaling, the series aims to help build more resilient communities, healthier ecosystems, and stronger water security for future generations.