Thank you for the invitation to speak to this committee about adapting infrastructure to face climate change in Canada.
My name is Lina Azeez. I am the habitat programs director at Watershed Watch Salmon Society.
We are a salmon conservation organization based in British Columbia. I'm calling from my home in Port Coquitlam on unceded Kwikwetlem territory.
I am also representing the indigenous-led lower Fraser flood plains coalition. We are a group of organizations and experts with the shared goal of helping B.C.'s flood recovery and management efforts achieve the best possible outcomes by addressing systemic challenges and improving flood planning for our region.
The Fraser River is one of the world's greatest wild salmon rivers. Salmon are a keystone species and integral to the cultural security of Fraser first nations, the local economy and the very identity of British Columbians.
The lower Fraser, roughly from Hope to the Salish Sea, is heavily populated and developed, with agriculture, industry and homes filling in the flood plain that is protected by about 600 kilometres of dikes, over 100 pump stations and 500 floodgates. Many of these flood structures are either blocking side channels, tributaries and sloughs that should be salmon habitat or killing salmon outright, so we are working to ensure that salmon and their habitats are better considered in flood mitigation and adaptation strategies.
A 2015 provincial dike assessment found that 90% of dikes do not meet current standards and are not well adapted for the changing climate, which is bringing us bigger and more frequent floods. We also have aging and undersized floodgates and pump stations. These deficiencies are putting our region at extreme risk of climate-induced high water events like the kind we experienced in November 2021. It has been estimated that the recovery cost of that single flooding event will top $5 billion.
We need to invest in flood mitigation. As noted in the national adaptation strategy, each dollar invested in mitigation and preparedness saves as much as $15 in disaster recovery, yet we also know from the lower Fraser dike assessment that we need new approaches to managing flood risks because upgrading all the existing dikes was found to be “prohibitively expensive”. Fortunately, we are not stuck with the flood management options designed in the last century, but we need to be proactive and thoughtful in moving forward with proven, modern solutions.
Together with lower Fraser local governments and first nations, the LFFC identified five principles for a made-in-B.C. approach that incorporates the pillars of the “Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction” and commitments of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that the Government of Canada is a signatory to. These principles are reducing risk and adapting to climate change, advancing reconciliation, ensuring thriving salmon in coastal and freshwater ecosystems, supporting sustainable economic and resilient communities into the future, and ensuring that everyone is part of the solution.
Provincial ministers responsible for emergency management and the B.C. flood strategy have voiced their support for these principles. We ask that the federal government also support the principles aligned with federal commitments to Sendai, legal obligations under UNDA and salmon recovery. Essentially, infrastructure for a changing climate must be multi-beneficial. This means keeping our communities safe while also supporting salmon recovery and other values. This can be accomplished through integrated planning and sustained proactive funding.
For example, natural defences, also referred to as nature-based solutions, have to be ranked highly in funding programs such as the DMAF and DFAA, which make large infrastructure investments part of disaster recovery. At present, DFAA requires building back to the same standards and encourages communities to rebuild in high-risk areas that might otherwise not be covered by private insurance because they can be confident of a government bailout. This is inherently counter to the concept of adaptation. We need modernized flood plain maps, identification of risk and a focus on resilience and adaptation planning.
Natural flood defences can include making room for rivers to flood safely, restoration and protection of wetlands and flood plains, increased absorption capacity in upper watersheds, strategic relocations and supporting farmers in flood plains to adapt their agricultural practices.
There are many natural infrastructure and fish-friendly solutions that will keep our communities safe and build resilience into the ecosystem, allowing salmon and other species to thrive. These solutions all need to be supported by DMAF, DFAA and other federal infrastructure funding streams with big, bold and creative investments.
The watershed security fund can also help, and we'd like to see federal matching funds to support watershed health, which in turn can directly benefit our built environment. In our region, DMAF has supported the innovative living dike project in Boundary Bay. Projects like this should be the norm not the novelty.
In summary, adapting our infrastructure to be resilient to a changing climate in the lower Fraser requires two key components: sustained funding for a regional flood resilience plan based on the five principles; and funding and incentives for multi-beneficial, nature-based and fish-friendly infrastructure solutions. This is essential for community and for ecosystem health and safety, and it is necessary to ensure that supply chain networks and that communities in regions, like the lower Fraser, are not subject to repeated disruptions.
A principled, strategic approach offers a way forward in a complex region like the lower Fraser.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to any questions