Flood Resiliency
Toolbox
A First Nation community-led project to compile a collection of flood-related scenarios, informed by risk assessment and analysis, community engagement, First Nations knowledge, site visits, and specific, localized case studies. Though hard infrastructure still has a place in the toolbox, the general approach strives towards living with the water, not in opposition to it; where possible, seasonal fluctuations are accommodated rather than repelled, and solutions often provide not only flood mitigation, but ecological, cultural and social benefits. The toolbox is meant to be ever evolving, with the specificity of mitigation situations increasing with the continued addition of case studies, making it a more effective planning and decision-making implement.
Our Partners
The Project
Uses of the Toolbox
1. Aide in proactive decision making and adaptation strategies to reduce the flood risks associated with land-use practices and climate change in the lower Fraser River
2. Diagnostic resource allowing communities to identify situations similar to their own, and get an understanding of what mitigation options are available in their particular situation
3. Review the suite of mitigation options: including hard/grey infrastructure and nature based solutions.
Visualizations in the Toolbox
Prototypical sites reflect the issues that might be found in a particular region of the river. These issue complexes are then visually illustrated, calling out each of the issues in question at a landscape scale. These problem areas can then be seen in a more detailed section which calls out the smaller impacts of the specific problem, and visualizes the same section in a state where flood mitigation interventions have been implemented.
Case studies are formed from conversations and site visits conducted with specific engaged First Nations communities. These outline a specific set of issues and according responses based on direct engagement with the problem sites and members of the concerned communities. The suggested interventions might seek to address systematic flood-related issues, as opposed to isolated phenomena. Visualizations of these cases are created according to the requirements or needs of the community for their use in decision-making and planning.
Mariah Mund, Emergency Planning Secretariat | mariah.mund@emplans.ca
Kees Lokman, UBC Coastal Adaptation lab | klokman@sala.ubc.ca