N.B. government needs to do more to prevent flooding: engineer

FREDERICTON – A New Brunswick engineer says the severity of last month’s record flooding could have been eased if the province had stricter land-use policies.

Wayne Browne, a civil engineer at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, says changes to the land increased the intensity of the deluges witnessed last month.

He says if land goes from forest to farmland, for example, steps need to be taken to mitigate the change in run-off.

Browne pins some of the blame on what he calls the province’s lax legislation on run-off standards on land cleared for forestry, agriculture or urban development.

Paul VanDerlaan, director of sustainable development, planning and impact evaluation for the Environment Department, says the province is aware of the issue.

He says the province has a multitudes of programs in place to mitigate run-off, including a wetlands conservation policy.

Browne, though, says many of the province’s rules and regulations aren’t enforced or aren’t tough enough.

He says the province should designate about 10 per cent of land for water resource conservation to mitigate the changes to the natural landscape, suggesting that retention ponds could greatly reduce flooding.

Browne says this should apply to sub-divisions, industrial and urban developments,as well as agricultural and forestry activities.