Sponge StreetFlood-proof your Ottawa block

A storm is coming for Maple Crescent. The old fix is a concrete channel that shoves the water onto your neighbour. The real fix is a living sponge β€” rain gardens, native pollinator plants, swales and soakaways that drink the storm before it reaches a single front door. Two things run this game:

Mechanic 1

πŸ’§ The Watershed

Your whole cul-de-sac drains into one spot β€” the catch basin in the turning circle, the only pipe out. Shape the land β€” dig swales, basins and berms β€” to slow, sink and store runoff before it overwhelms that basin and backs up onto the homes. Then press Run Storm and watch the water pool in the circle.

Mechanic 2

🌿 The Living Sponge

Native plants are the engineering. Roots deepen over the seasons and triple a tile's thirst. Match the plant to the water zone, keep blooms overlapping spring→fall, and the pollinators come back too.

Designed as a SimCity-meets-SimLife build β€’ Native-plant palette drawn from the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence lowlands (Ottawa). Real species, real invasives, real rebate programs. No two storms hit the same street twice.