City News, Mars 1, 2020, 4:44 PM EDT<\/p>\n
HALIFAX \u2014 As\u00a0Canadian communities\u00a0brace for\u00a0rising risks of spring flooding\u00a0related to climate change,\u00a0a non-profit\u00a0group\u00a0has published findings suggesting preserving wetlands and forests\u00a0can be\u00a0key to reducing adaptation costs.<\/p>\n
The Municipal Natural Assets\u00a0Initiative released its second set of results recently on how\u00a0forests, creeks, wetlands, ponds and other natural features help cities avoid costly infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n
The approach\u00a0has been applied to\u00a0the New Brunswick communities of Florenceville-Bristol, Riverside-Albert, and Riverview; Oshawa, Ont. and the district of Sparwood and City of Courtenay in British Columbia.<\/p>\n
The report dated Feb. 21\u00a0estimates\u00a0savings ranging from $200,000 to $414 million for preserving or improving so-called \u201cnatural assets,\u201d with results including improved drainage of\u00a0stormwater and purification of\u00a0drinking water.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0initiative was\u00a0originally pioneered\u00a0by the Town of Gibsons, B.C. \u2014 which\u00a0conducted the first similar studies \u2014\u00a0and is funded\u00a0by the Suzuki Foundation.<\/p>\n
One of the areas\u00a0considered was how conservation helps adapt to flooding.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s Canada\u2019s Changing Climate Report, a summary of climate science\u00a0by federal researchers,\u00a0concluded the effects of widespread warming are becoming evident in many parts of Canada and \u201care projected to intensify in the future,\u201d including earlier spring peak streamflow and rising sea levels.<\/p>\n
The 2019 document\u00a0also concluded a warmer climate will intensify weather extremes, \u201cwhile \u2026more intense rainfalls will increase urban flood risks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The natural assets report says in Florenceville-Bristol, N.B., protecting 182 hectares of forested area along the\u00a0St. John River\u00a0helps avoid costly human-engineered systems that would be required for a one-in-100 year rain storm.<\/p>\n
It estimates\u00a0forest conservation would\u00a0save the creation of a $3.5 million stormwater management pond system.<\/p>\n
In Riverview, N.B., adjacent to Moncton, protecting four wetlands that cover\u00a014,000 square metres in the Mill Creek Watershed would avoid the $2.3 million needed to create stormwater management ponds to handle a 1-in-100 year flood, as predicted under a climate change scenario.<\/p>\n
In Oshawa, Oshawa Creek \u2014 which drains an area of about 119 square kilometres \u2014\u00a0and surrounding lands were studied\u00a0as the key natural system for handling more frequent rain storms.<\/p>\n
According to the group protecting seven kilometres of natural area in the watershed, including steps to guard against erosion of\u00a0\u00a0lands around the\u00a0creek system,\u00a0would save about $18.9 million that it would cost to build a concrete channel with similar flow rates to handle runoff.<\/p>\n
If full protection measures are taken for the entire length of the creek and its surrounding floodplain, the financial benefits\u00a0increase to $414 million by avoiding construction of alternative, human-made water channels.<\/p>\n
The consultant\u00a0calls for additional study of the water system to fully define ways to help it absorb precipitation.<\/p>\n
In Courtney, B.C., the study looked at several potential flooding scenarios from the Courtney River, one based on the 2009 flood conditions and another on a 1-in-200 year storm.<\/p>\n
The project identified four options including widening the Courtenay River banks, converting a sawmill site to a natural foreshore, bringing back the river\u2019s natural path and \u201cgradually removing properties from the flood plain and allowing only land uses that are compatible with flooding in the flood plain.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study found these measures would not solve the flooding problems, but they\u00a0would reduce flood damage by between $723,000 and $2.4 million, depending on the extent of the flooding.<\/p>\n
Roy Brooke, director of the Municipal Natural Assets Initiative, said in an interview the information being gathered for municipalities can be used for their planning.<\/p>\n
\u201cNatural assets are providing vital infrastructure to communities, and the services have a value and often increase over time because they are adaptable in the face of climate change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis becomes information the communities can leverage \u2026 to start treating nature for what it is: a vital asset and a core part of any resilient system.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Mars 1, 2020.<\/p>\n
Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n