All of the work we have done to date demonstrates that watersheds impact all elements of our economic and community security—so that's personal security—as we've seen in the climate events across the country but particularly in B.C. with the floods, the wildfires and the drought.
There are both short-term and long-term impacts. They include the ability of businesses to conduct business. We saw the country-wide impacts of what happened with the transportation infrastructure as a result of the floods of 2021. From our work and the investments that have been made in British Columbia we have seen how restoring watersheds—in terms of riparian areas—restoring wetlands and ensuring that there is erosion protection make a difference. We saw that in real time during the floods when there was water retention in particular areas that prevented flooding, which also created a refuge for wild salmon in the Fraser Valley.
We also saw how infrastructure that focused on natural infrastructure and infrastructure that took into account future conditions and benefits to salmon also had remarkable results during the flood. We know that the insurance sector is floundering and really being devastated by the costs of these impacts, and I know you've heard in other committees about how they are dealing with those and about what's needed. We know that water is an important and critical, if not central, part of the climate crisis and that it costs humans. It costs our fellow citizens, it costs our economy and it costs our ecosystems.