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Finally, a flood of solutions
Exactly three years after the 2013 flood in the Elk Valley, the Elk River Alliance (ERA) announces the completion of the Elk River Flood Strategy (Strategy).
“The Strategy increases our watershed-wide flood literacy and it is a tool to drive better decisions around flooding. As we see from the research it is best to be proactive and prepared,” said Lee-Anne Walker, Executive Director of the ERA.
Following an initial meeting hosted July 2013 after the flood at City of Fernie council chambers with local government officials and staff, industry and community, the ERA coordinated a team of experts and raised $250,000 funding from the Regional District of East Kootenay, Columbia Basin Trust, Real Estate Foundation of BC, Teck and Mitacs through the University of Lethbridge.
ERA also secured $50,000 in-kind funding from Teck and governments, primarily GIS data. “The project received less than 1% of funding from local tax payers and yet they will benefit from the solutions intended to protect people and critical infrastructure, as well as watershed function and wildlife habitat,” commented Walker.
Broad community consultation provided input to the Strategy. ERA presented to all the local governments to collect their key flood questions. Flood educators attended 23 events and talked to 1,400 people in the Elk Valley, collecting 200 comprehensive surveys and interviewed18 long-time residents about their flood experience and ideas for solutions. There was over 800 hours of government staff and elected official time, local industry and community contributed input at two workshops.
“There has been a lot of work put into flood solutions and now community is looking to local governments to integrate the Strategy with their OCP’s and utilize this tool when making decisions about flood mitigation and streambank protection,” said Jim Miller, ERA Director and retired PEng who volunteered with the project. “Elected representatives and staff from local government will be asked to form an Elk River Flood Management Committee on August 24, to start implementing the Strategy.”
“Flood solutions are a shared responsibility of homeowners, industrial development, and governments,” stated Walker, “and with this Strategy now we better understand the current hydrology and future effects of floods and recommended mitigation strategies.”
Over the next 10 weeks ERA will release parts of the reports in a series called The Elk River Current.
To read the full Elk River Flood Strategy click on the link here or go to www.elkriveralliance.ca or visit your local library for a hard copy. A shortened four-Page Executive Summary is also on the ERA website or click on this link. To access the web-based visualization tool to see flood hazard zone, floodplain and depth of water innundation for various scenarios click here.
The Elk River Alliance is committed to educating stewards of our watershed. For more information call Lee-Anne Walker, ERA Executive Director at (25) 423-1682 or see www.elkriveralliance.ca
Lead image: Flooding in Hosmer in 2013. Ian Cobb/e-KNOW file photos
Elk River Alliance
