Council looks at staff report on potential flooding fallout in New West

There were some sobering moments during a council workshop Monday afternoon as presenters played a projection of how quickly a place like Queensborough—built on a floodplain—could fill with water. The presentation was given as council was urged by staff to adopt the 2050 Climate Change Fraser River Flood Profile update to ensure dikes are either upgraded or built.

The update came through a report and a presentation related to phase one of the plan’s update.

The group heard it is possible for floodplain levels in New Westminster to rise by up to a metre by the year 2100. Additionally, a major Fraser River flood or coastal flood between now and 2100 might mean regional losses in the ballpark of $20 to $30B. That being said, staff noted the current protections for places like Queensborough were okay until about 2050.

While there have been discussions in the past regarding whether we are ready for a flood, presenters noted some of these discussions hadn’t been done with climate change top of mind. Being built where it is, the city does have a Floodplain Management Strategy, though it was developed between 2009 and 2011, then endorsed in 2011. Speakers noted on at least two occasions during the presentation that these proposed models were an example of the impacts of climate change—combined with the city’s proximity to the Fraser River.

As it stands, much of the bill to ideally mitigate damage through building or upgrading New West dikes—which would be into the millions of dollars—would likely fall at the feet of the municipality.

“Historically, the Province of BC managed the Fraser River Floodplain,” the report from staff reads, “In 2003, the province enacted legislation that passed down the responsibility for floodplain land-use designation and management to local governments.”

The province is usually responsible for dike design, construction, and maintenance, while municipalities—in this case our city—are the diking authority.

On the question of destruction from Coun. Jaimie McEvoy, the presenters noted that it depends on where the flooding would take place. In the Downtown core it’d be more about disruption—for instance, people not being able to leave their condos and towers because of flooding. Damage in Queensborough could be worse.

Staff warned though that at this stage in the work, it’s more about contemplating the situation related to damage—so it was too soon to say what the certainty would be.

“Recognizing that effective Floodplain Resilience Planning & Management requires collaboration and cooperation between various levels of government and stakeholders the Fraser Basin Council (FBC), beginning in 2014, embarked on a collaborative effort with the Federal Government, the Province of BC, Lower Mainland Municipalities, First Nations and private industry in the development of a Lower Mainland flood management strategy,” the report says.

The recommendations made by staff were updated without opposition:

• Council adopted the proposed 2050 climate change Fraser River Flood profile in the implementation of future diking projects;

• That council OK staff implementing the recommendations of the New Wet Flood Resilience Plan in phase two;

• That council keep working with the province to keep developing the BC Flood Strategy

Staff said they planned to update council during each phase of the process.

Hey friend, you’ve made it to the end. Thanks for reading! We’re a tiny publication staffed by just one full-time person, and we could use your help.

Would you consider supporting our grassroots reporting for just $2 a week?

We love our community and want to be here for as long as possible. Thank you for supporting New West Anchor.