Central Okanagan Flood Mitigation Strategy

Floods matter. People whose homes are inundated or damaged will remember for the rest of their lives; landscapes are changed forever; regional and national economies suffer. With climate change driving up the frequency and intensity of flooding and other natural hazards, the risks and impacts to Canada's economic vitality, infrastructure, environment, and citizens will only continue to grow. The RDCO is no stranger to flood damages, having experienced them on our rivers and lakes in recent years.

The RDCO built on two earlier phases of work to prepare a flood mitigation plan with a focus on non-structural approaches (e.g., policies, programs, initiatives).

The objectives of this project are to:

Reduce flood risk
Improve emergency response
Increase resiliency to climate change

We developed a Flood Mitigation Plan that identifies the best approaches to build local resilience and reduce risk.

Who's involved?

Water doesn't follow jurisdictional boundaries. While the focus of this project is on the Central Okanagan, we worked with partners up and down the Okanagan Valley to build on a watershed-wide approach to flood mitigation.

The project involved an extensive outreach component to local governments, syilx communities, stakeholders, and engaged with the public to ensure that the proposed mitigation options are acceptable and supported.

What is non-structural flood mitigation?

Effective flood management requires implementing a range of mitigation options, rather than relying solely on traditional structures such as dikes or dams.

So called non-structural options play an important role in reducing risk and improving flood resiliency and include:

Risk reduction

Land stewardship– maintaining and restoring natural areas (e.g., watersheds, wetlands, riparian areas, natural waterways) to help reduce downstream flooding.

Land use management- encouraging or requiring types of land use in flood hazard areas that will prevent or reduce potential damage. For example, a green space would be less affected by flooding than a new sub-division.

Building management- regulations and strategies that make structures and belongings less susceptible to flood damage. For example, using flood-resistant materials for the ground floor of a building.

Resilience

Education and awareness– Homeowner guides, flood and climate change education, neighbourhood preparedness programs, and other learning resources.

Emergency response- early warning systems, temporary barriers, and other flood response programs.

Insurance and disaster financial assistance -managing financial risks where no other mitigation strategies are available.

Flood Mitigation Resource Guide & Technical Report

Phase one

The Regional Floodplain Management Plan: Phase 1 was completed in 2016 to identify potential flood hazards within the RDCO and establish the scope and priorities of the next two phases.

Phase two

This phase is ongoing and focused on delineation and confirmation of the flood-prone streams and floodplains identified in Phase 1. Through funding from RDCO, OBWB, UBCM and NDMP, plus partnerships with local government agencies, the following projects have been completed or are underway:

Trepanier and Bellevue Creek dyke maintenance assessments.
Dam failure inundation mapping.
Major floodplains, alluvial fans and flood-prone sections of watercourses, including:

Phase three

This phase of the management plan makes use the information collected through the previous two phases to create mitigation strategies. The project included an extensive outreach component to gain input from member local governments, Syilx communities in the region, stakeholders and the public to ensure that the proposed mitigation options are acceptable and supported.

More information is available on our Central Okanagan Flood Mitigation strategy page.