BC community looks to study steep slopes and riverine flood areas

The Regional District of Nanaimo in B.C. is hoping for a successful grant application to complete a geohazard risk prioritization study for electoral areas.

The regional district is applying for a grant from the provincial community emergency preparedness fund disaster risk reduction climate adaptation stream. If funded, the work would build on the coastal and riverine flood hazard studies and mapping already completed by the regional district. The study would identify currently unmapped riverine flood areas as well as steep slopes that could impact developed properties and lands with development potential, with a focus on the electoral areas where information is currently limited, according to the RDN.

Work would also include a review of the sensitivity of geohazard areas to climate change. Flooding risks and dangers like landslides are expected to worsen as climate change raises sea levels and extreme weather events occur more frequently, the RDN says.

The data collected will be available to the RDN’s regional partners, including the Islands Trust, said Kim Fowler, RDN manager of long-range planning, sustainability and energy.

“A local government may wish to develop land use strategies, policies, regulations to prevent and reduce the risk, such as establishing building setback from the hazard area,” Fowler said as an example. “The information can also be used to educate people on hazards and ways to avoid, prepare, respond and recover from natural hazard events.”

Part of the work conducted would include developing a publicly accessible visual mapping tool “to enable users to view the affected location and risk score for the hazard.”

Rachelle Stein-Wotten is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for the Gabriola Sounder.