Investigations in Support of Flood Strategy Development in BC

An initiative to look at current issues, challenges and opportunities for flood management in British Columbia

The goal of the Investigations in Support of Flood Strategy Development in British Columbia initiative was to better understand current challenges and opportunities for a wide range of flood management issues in BC.

Between 2019 and 2021, consulting teams carried out 43 investigations (reviews) of flood-related issues. These were grouped into 11 distinct but interrelated projects that spanned flood governance, hazard and risk assessment, planning, structural and non-structural mitigation, forecasting, emergency response and recovery, and funding and resources.

The initiative was supported by funding from the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. The Fraser Basin Council (FBC) managed and coordinated the projects as well as the overall initiative.

The resulting work is intended to inform the development of flood strategies and operations undertaken by different orders of government and other organizations that have flood management roles in BC. This includes the Province of British Columbia in its current work to develop a BC Flood Strategy.  (Note: This is, however, a separate project from the BC Flood Strategy, which is led by the Province of BC, and the Lower Mainland Flood Management Strategy initiative, which FBC is coordinating in collaboration with government and non-government entities in the Lower Mainland.)

Key recommendations from the projects fall under eight general categories:

• Facilitate training, education and knowledge sharing
• Improve data, information and tools
• Develop vision and targets
• Strengthen guidelines and standards
• Support integrated flood management approaches
• Facilitate collaboration
• Provide strategic and comprehensive funding
• Adapt organizational roles and responsibilities

All projects point to the need for enhanced funding, capacity and governance for more effective flood management, including in the development of foundational information tools, flood management planning and emergency response planning, and implementation of flood mitigation measures.

Reports

Summary Report

The Summary Report (July, 2021), prepared by FBC, summarizes the context and key findings and recommendations from the 11 projects within this initiative.

Project Reports

These are the project reports prepared by consulting teams*.

• Flood Risk Governance (A-1)
• Impacts of Climate Change (B-1)
• Flood Hazard Information (B-2)
• Flood Risk Assessment (B-3)
• Flood Planning (B-4)
• Structural Flood Management Approaches (B-5)
• Non-Structural Flood Management Approaches (B-6)
• Flood Forecasting Services (C-1)
• Emergency Response (C-2)
• Flood Recovery (C-3)
• Resources and Funding (D-1)

Contacts

If you have any questions about this project, please contact the Fraser Basin Council:

Steve Litke E:

Frances Woo E: