Flooding of waterways has become top-of-mind this week following the devastating floods in Texas, which have killed more than 110 people.
Together, the municipalities along the Gorge Waterway are trying to come up with a revised coastal flood adaptation strategy, and want to hear from the residents who live in areas that may be impacted by potential flooding.
Saanich, Victoria, Esquimalt and View Royal residents all border the Gorge Waterway and the Portage Inlet.
In order to protect their homes and businesses, these municipalities are seeking input to help shape adaptation options to protect infrastructure and natural areas from current flood risks and rising sea levels caused by climate change.
Those who live in impacted areas can have their say by completing the online survey, sharing places that are important to them by adding a pin to a map and/or attending a community pop-up event on the matter.
According to the involved municipalities, the feedback received will inform the Gorge Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy.
Then, next steps would include a technical study to evaluate flood hazards and infrastructure vulnerabilities, a risk assessment that builds on previous studies to better understand the site-specific risks from sea level rise and the development of recommended adaptation options for the strategy.
The municipalities involved will be committing $350,000 to develop this strategy from the Province’s Community Emergency Preparedness Fund, under the Disaster Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation stream.
The online survey will be open until September 30th.
