Urban flooding is a significant problem in Canada, but important projects are already underway to alleviate the flood problem in various provinces.
Two bridges in Manitoba were given the green light for replacement as part of the Red River Floodway Expansion project. The cost of replacing the two bridges is CAD$47 million, and the cost will be equally shared by the federal and provincial governments. To date, the floodway expansion project has achieved 1-in-500 year flood protection, which provides significantly greater flood protection for Winnipeg residents than its initial 1-in-100 year level, reports Infrastructure Canada. The project is on schedule to be completed next spring and it will achieve a 1-in-700 year flood protection.
“Once finished, the project will protect more than 450,000 Manitobans, over 140,000 homes, over 8,000 businesses and prevent more than $12 billion in damages during a major flood,” Infrastructure Canada said in a statement.
British Columbia uses the 200-year flood to define the flood risk area, but divides it into two zones, the floodway, where further development is discouraged, and the flood fringe where flood proofed development is possible. Last September, the Federal and British Columbia governments announced that CAD$16 million would be spent on 25 new flood protection initiatives across the province. These initiatives include constructing relief wells to prevent dike erosion and building new floodwater pumping stations and flood debris traps under the Building Canada infrastructure plan.
British Columbia’s funding contribution comes from the Province’s $100 million, 10-year Flood Protection Program, announced in 2007 by Premier Gordon Campbell. Initiatives for 2008/09 were selected based on local government applications that offered the highest level of flood protection in areas at greatest risk.
Since 2007, $59 million in federal and provincial funding has supported 153 flood protection initiatives in communities across British Columbia, the premier’s office said.
Public Education is Vital
Given that people will continue to build homes in flood prone areas, either because they are forced to economically, or out of preference, it is important that insurers educate home owners on what their policies cover, says Dan Sandink, from the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. “People don’t have a good idea of what coverage they have. ICLR surveys have shown that 70% of respondents thought they were covered for flood damage when they weren’t. It’s a big consumer confidence issue for the insurance industry.” Research has also shown that individuals who are prone to hazards often have a poor understanding of the risks associated with such hazards, which makes a public education program even more imperative.
But there is interesting work already going on in Canada over consumer education. Sandink cited the City of Edmonton’s “Flood Proof: flood prevention program” which targets Edmonton homeowners as an example of how an education campaign can work. The program has an extensive public education component and is designed to provide Edmonton homeowners with information on how to protect their homes from flooding and what the city is doing about flooding. Education information has been distributed via handouts and brochures and through public information meetings, public consultations and preventative plumbing workshops for the man in the street.
The city of Edmonton also offers a preventative plumbing subsidy program for residents, which has been in place since 1991. Originally offered to residents who had previously suffered basement flooding, the subsidy is now available to all homeowners.
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