Canada/New committee to better plan for flood risks in Gatineau
Ville de Gatineau's Service de l'urbanisme et du développement durable (SUDD) recommends that elected officials create a flood adaptation committee on its territory.
Presented this Tuesday at a plenary committee meeting, the future ADAP-Inondations Committee aims to bring together various experts and scientists, but also to involve citizens in continuing the work, analyzing possible scenarios and proposing solutions to the risks of flooding on its territory.
The aim is to gain a better understanding of the risks so that we can act more effectively and proactively," explains SUDD Director Guylaine Déziel.
Thanks to this working committee, the city hopes to develop its own flood adaptation plan. An exercise in anticipation to be as prepared as possible for the day when measures need to be taken in new flood-risk zones.
It's not easy what's going to happen with this committee," admits Masson-Angers councillor Mario Aubé. There'll be a lot of careful thought required [...] to come to decisions that may be a little more difficult over time.
Acting without the new flood zone maps
But that day has not yet come, because Gatineau, like all Quebec municipalities, has been subject for three years now to a provisional regulatory framework for flood-prone areas.
Established by the Ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP), the regime is intended to be transitional, pending a new, modernized regulatory framework and the updating of flood zone mapping throughout the province.
Announced last spring, this modernization of the regulatory framework for water environments and flood zones should finally be adopted this spring and come into force this fall. This will be followed by the progressive publication of updated flood zone maps.
Although Gatineau had already updated its zones, it had to readjust its data to meet the new MELCCFP requirements. According to Guylaine Déziel, submission and validation of the mapping to the Ministry is not expected before 2027, or even 2028.
Several elected officials pointed out the difficulty of responding adequately to citizens, without definitive mapping. The map [of flood zones] had been enlarged, then reduced," points out Rivière-Blanche district councillor Jean Lessard.
How do we manage this in front of the public so that there aren't any issues? [...] Some people say to me, 'I want to sell my property, but I have a red dot in my yard because I don't know if I'm going to be flooded or not... but I've never been flooded.
For her part, Déziel points out that it is the transitional regime put in place in 2022 that is and remains the regulatory framework to be respected today. This is what currently applies," insists the SUDD director, before adding that the objective is to inform citizens about the forthcoming modernized framework, and then, through the ADAP committee and the forthcoming citizen participation exercises, to raise awareness and further inform citizens about this notion of risk and the solutions to be put in place.
A cost-benefit risk analysis
Lyne Savaria, Assistant General Manager of the City's Sustainable Development Department, points out that while responsibilities are shared, the final decision-making authority will be the City.
The government is responsible for adopting maps. Our responsibility is to integrate these maps into our development plan, into our management of urbanization," she explains.
We go into it with a risk analysis, with a cost-benefit analysis. The ADAP committee will begin this work and make recommendations to the municipal council.
A quote from Lyne Savaria, Assistant General Manager of the City's Sustainable Development Department
If there are decisions to be made, before they are made, I really hope [...] that we have turned over all the rocks to make sure we have solutions to propose other than just emptying neighborhoods," insists Mario Aubé.
Gatineau mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette adds that solutions must be tailored to each individual's reality. There's Pointe-Gatineau, there's Hurtubise, there's Horseshoe, there's Aylmer [...]. [...] I don't think there's a solution that applies to all sectors," she says.
She adds that the adaptation solutions that will be proposed, particularly for public infrastructures in flood risk zones, will necessarily have a cost for the town.
The breakdown will have to be discussed, and we're not there yet, but it's a safe bet that our public finances will be affected. [...] We're going to need help from Quebec and then from the federal government," concludes Ms. Marquis-Bissonnette.
Source: ici.radio-canada.ca/
