Flooding damages community infrastructure, including natural assets, local economies, and human well-being, and climate change is set to increase the risk of urban flooding. Flood risk is worsened by continued construction and settlement in flood-prone areas, increasing the magnitude of damage. Fortunately, the Real Estate Foundation of BC (REFBC), the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA), and the University of British Columba Okanagan (UBCO) have jointly produced the BC Floodplain Maps Inventory Report.

The report is an update to BCREA’s original mapping research from 2015, and identifies maps created or updated from 2015 to 2020. The report also provides insights into how local governments and First Nations can use the included floodplain maps and the challenges and opportunities communities may experience when undertaking floodplain mapping projects.

From the BCREA:
“A key finding of this research is the importance of federal and provincial funding programs. While most communities combined more than one funding source, the National Disaster Mitigation Program helped fund almost half of the floodplain mapping projects identified in the report. The provincial Community Emergency Preparedness Fund was used for a quarter of the projects.”

Go to resource: https://www.bcrea.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021-05FloodplainMapsInventory.pdf