Impervious Soil: Funding Climate Resilience!

🌧️ Why Soil Characteristics Matter for Urban Resilience — and Revenue

In an era marked by climate disruption and rapid urban growth, understanding how soil interacts with water has become a cornerstone of smart, resilient cities.

Beyond protecting infrastructure and managing stormwater, this knowledge also opens the door to a new and sustainable source of revenue.

Soil characteristics — especially permeability — determine whether rainwater is absorbed into the ground or runs off, increasing flood risks. Impervious surfaces like asphalt and concrete exacerbate these effects, threatening infrastructure, public safety, and quality of life.

By accurately identifying and mapping these surfaces, cities gain powerful insights to:

• Prevent flooding,

• Preserve infrastructure,

• Improve citizen well-being, and

• Implement fair stormwater fees that reflect actual runoff contributions.

These ecorevenue programs, already proven in many U.S. cities, allow municipalities to finance climate adaptation efforts through a transparent, equitable model — rewarding green practices while funding critical upgrades.

With high precision digital twin and AI-powered analytics, cities can precisely measure impervious surfaces visible from the street and integrate aerial data for a complete picture — all feeding into a highly accurate digital twin of the public domain.

💡 The result? A data-driven foundation for stormwater billing, sustainable planning, and long-term climate resilience.

💸 A Proven Model in the United States for Over 30 Years!

For many years, numerous U.S. cities have implemented stormwater fees: charges based on the impervious surface area of a property.

The objectives are twofold:

✔️ Finance stormwater infrastructure, as costs increase with heavier rainfall.
✔️ Encourage responsible behaviors, such as installing green roofs or permeable pavements.

These policies, backed by accurate geospatial data, have become sustainable sources of revenue and drivers of urban resilience.

Here are some key examples:

• Minneapolis, MN – Since 2005, calculation based on Equivalent Stormwater Units (ESU).

• Seattle, WA – Since 2005, rate structure adjusted for imperviousness in 2025.

• Philadelphia, PA – Since 2010, billing based on actual impervious surface area.

• Portland, OR – Since 1977, featuring the Clean River Rewards program.

• Charlotte, NC – Since 1994, category-based rate system and a Credit Manual.

🎯 These cities demonstrate that this model works at scale and serves as a sustainable, equitable financial lever.

💡 A Model Inspiring Canada

These American initiatives show that impervious surface billing has been effective for over 30 years:

✔️ It generates dedicated revenues for urban resilience.
✔️ It holds property owners accountable.
✔️ It promotes natural solutions and green innovation.

As Canadian cities begin to embrace this model, they can rely on this proven experience — and on tools like Jakarto — to build their own strategies.

Here are some notable examples of Canadian cities adopting stormwater fees:

• Mississauga, ON – In place since 2016.

• Hamilton, ON – Deployment planned for 2026.

• Windsor, ON – Planned for 2025.

• Oakville, ON – Currently under feasibility study.

• Victoria, BC – Rainwater Rewards program.

• Halifax, NS – Active since June 1, 2022.

🚰 Proactive Stormwater Management

An impervious surface prevents natural water infiltration, increasing risks of runoff, erosion, and flooding.

By analyzing what is visible from the street or from the sky, cities can:

• Better size retention basins and drainage systems.

• Target public areas for green infrastructure initiatives.

• Update stormwater master plans with objective, real-world data.

🏙️ Sustainable Urban Planning

Precise identification of impervious surfaces supports urban planning aligned with sustainability principles:

• Favoring permeable materials in projects.

• Controlling urban sprawl and heat islands.

• Focusing interventions within the city’s jurisdiction.

⚡ Faster and Better-Coordinated Decisions

Through the Jakartowns platform, municipalities can:

• Visualize critical areas in immersive 3D.

• Prioritize field interventions based on real-time data.

• Facilitate cross-department collaboration with a shared data environment.

🚙🛩️🛰️ A Complete Vision: From Sidewalk to Rooftop

In a rapidly evolving field, many companies offer impervious surface analysis tools based solely on aerial or satellite imagery. However, these methods often have limits: varying resolutions, oblique angles, outdated data.

Jakarto goes further.

Our strength lies in the intelligent combination of ground and aerial vision, with real-world examples to support it:

✅ An absolute street-level view, captured in 3D by our mobile mapping units.
✅ Automated detection of impervious surfaces from aerial sources, thanks to our AI algorithms.
✅ Seamless integration of third-party aerial data, such as Nearmap, used in projects in Mascouche and Toronto.
✅ Partnerships with leading experts like Groupe PHB to deliver turnkey solutions.

📡 The street is no longer a blind spot. Neither is the backyard. Jakarto sees what matters — and partners with the best to go even further.

🚀 Concrete Data to Fund a Sustainable Future

Jakarto offers cities a complete geospatial solution based on high-precision LiDAR and a comprehensive coverage of the public domain.

This technology enables municipalities to:

• Quantify impervious surfaces visible from both the street and the air.

• Build fair, fact-based stormwater billing models.

• Fund their climate transition, just like several North American cities already have.

✨ Ready to Digitize Your Territory and Tackle Tomorrow’s Challenges?

With Jakarto, gain access to a complete, precise, and actionable geospatial vision — from sidewalks to rooftops. Whether you’re looking to implement a fair stormwater fee, plan resilient infrastructure, or enhance your urban resilience, our team is ready to support you.

📧 Contact us to discuss your geospatial intelligence needs!