Today, federal Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Ralph Goodale and Minister Responsible for the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency, Dustin Duncan announced $1 million in funding for community flood mapping, with Yorkton is a beneficiary.
The Water Security Agency (WSA) will proceed with flood mapping for 20 high-risk communities through the National Disaster Mitigation Program on a 50-50 cost share basis between the province ($500,000) and federal government ($500,000). There is no cost to the communities who have been identified as high risk.
“This partnership is a positive step toward helping communities become more resilient in the face of climate change – a priority in Saskatchewan’s Prairie Resilience climate change strategy,” Duncan said. “Flood mapping is vital for communities to manage potential flood hazards, and to implement effective mitigation measures.”
Flood mapping identifies areas that are at-risk for flooding from nearby rivers, lakes and streams, including those impacted by anticipated developments or changes in climate, making it the first step to increasing community resilience relative to flooding.
WSA identified the following communities to be at risk of suffering recurrent flood damage that would benefit from obtaining access to modern flood maps and hydraulic modelling:
• The cities of Melfort, Moose Jaw, Regina, Saskatoon, Weyburn and Yorkton;
• The towns of Arborfield, Cudworth, Eastend, Foam Lake, La Ronge, Lashburn, Maple Creek, Tisdale, Wadena, Watson and Wolseley; and
• The villages of Air Ronge, Borden and Gainsborough.
“The Town of Wolseley is pleased to have worked with the Water Security Agency and Public Safety Canada to obtain flood maps and hydraulic models for our town, and others in the province that face future risk of damages from flooding,” Mayor of Wolseley Gary Hill said. “We experienced significant flooding in 2011 and 2014 and know these tools will assist us with planning future development and an emergency response strategy.”
“Last year, the Water Security Agency launched a proactive flood mitigation program to advance implementation of mitigation measures, including flood mapping for high-risk communities,” Duncan said. “This funding will help the Water Security Agency accomplish their goal of having 100 per cent of communities at risk of flood damage receiving flood mapping by 2030.”
Flood mapping is one of the 25 measures of resilience in the Government of Saskatchewan’s Climate Resilience Measurement Framework.
