Whereas stormwater run-off and drainage related problems such as flooding, erosion, and slope instability are becoming increasingly prevalent in rural areas due to development pressures and are being exacerbated by the effects of climate change which results in more variable, intense, and frequent storm events; And whereas the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, as the subdivision approving authority, is primarily responsible for the design and maintenance of drainage works related to public roads in rural areas, and does not enforce or regulate stormwater and drainage related problems from one property to the next once development has been approved: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM advocate for increased collaboration between the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, regional districts, and municipalities to develop and implement management strategies that: - recognize the need for an integrated stormwater management approach that plans at the watershed level as well as at the individual development level; - are responsive to ongoing development pressures and challenges associated with climate change; - increase provincial oversight of the implementation of stormwater related components of subdivision approvals on an ongoing basis; - increase the Provinces ability to address concerns from residents on an ongoing basis about property damage and safety issues that arise from stormwater and drainage related problems; and - incorporate the impacts of planned upstream forestry activities in their drainage assessments.
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure recognizes the importance of an integrated approach to manage storm water drainage and works collaboratively with our maintenance contractors and local governments to target improvements to our infrastructure network on a fiscal year-by-year basis. The ministry will continue to prioritize stormwater management works on its infrastructure network and provide strategic improvements elsewhere on a case-by-case basis determined by available resources. Currently the ministrys position is that improvements on the individual development level is the responsibility of the landownerdeveloper, under engineering policy designed to see a net-zero impact on existing ministry infrastructure roadside ditches primarily. The ministry will continue to enforce this policy for new construction and development being proposed through subdivision applications. The ministry authority over private property is limited to the Transportation Act. When considering private land use, substantial changes such as removing vegetation cover or soils can be completed by property owners with no ministry consultation or approvals. The ministry therefore can only request improvements to properties which have made subdivisiondevelopment applications which leaves the ministry out of decision making on all other properties. These authorities currently rest with local government and would require significant legislative changes to the Transportation Act which the ministry has no plans of pursuing at this time. Current rural subdivision processes, overseen by Provincial Approving Officers under the Land Title Act, and ministry Development Services staff, allow for local governments and other agencies to comment on applications through a referral process. Any concerns about storm water drainage on the subject property, or surrounding properties, are welcomed to be included in these referral responses for ministry review. Additionally, the ministry encourages meetings in local ministry district offices between local government and Development Services staff to discuss current and proposed subdivision applications and other developments.