The City of Grand Forks, B.C., will receive nearly $2 million in provincial funding to combat flooding.
The money is coming from the province’s Community Emergency Preparedness Fund, with officials saying the pool of money goes towards strengthening resilience against climate-related hazards.
Grand Forks will receive $1.76 million, though other areas are also receiving financial help as well. Overall, $44 million go into 70-plus projects in 63 communities.
“With the severe flooding, drought and wildfires we’ve experienced recently, we are seeing direct impacts of climate change here in B.C.,” said Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness.
“We’re investing in mitigation projects across the province so we can reduce the risk of disasters when they happen.
“These projects will help communities better protect themselves against climate-related events and increase their resilience, in the long run, to keep people across B.C safer.”
According to the province, the financial funding supports a broad range of actions until 2025 to address climate impacts and build resilience across B.C.
The province says the funding can be used towards:
- Risk mapping and risk assessments
- Land-use planning
- Purchasing equipment
- Delivering community education
- Small-scale structural projects
The money for Grand Forks will go towards a flood-mitigation project that includes channel excavation, installation of 82 fish habitat structures and planting 45,000 trees and shrubs along the channel banks and riparian area along the Kettle River.
In May 2018, approximately 3,000 Boundary-area residents were ordered to evacuate when the Kettle River overflowed its banks.
“Natural assets, things like wetlands and riparian forests, have an enormous role to play in reducing our risk from natural disasters such as flooding and wildfires,” said Roly Russell, MLA for Boundary-Similkameen.
“It’s great to see the City of Grand Forks prioritizing investment into these natural assets, and our government is proud to support the city and other communities as they work to mitigate disaster risk.”
“Mitigation work completed in Grand Forks since the flood in 2018 has already proved itself fully during this year’s freshet season,” said Everett Baker, mayor of Grand Forks.
“Restoring the floodplain will create important room for the river to flood and this funding will help us meet requirements to replace or restore habitats impacted by dike construction.”
More information about the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund is available online.
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