Whereas property, infrastructure and the natural environment are vulnerable to extreme weather events and other impacts of climate change, particularly in relation to stormwater run-off; And whereas increasingly extreme weather events are intensifying the frequency and severity of stormwater issues causing overland flooding which is damaging critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, culverts, and active transportation systems, as well as impacting the natural environment, such as salmon-bearing streams, and further compounding challenges with respect to the management of stormwater run-off: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the provincial government to bring together the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and local governments to collaborate on the development of an action plan that implements best practices for stormwater management, assigns clearly defined jurisdictional responsibilities and includes strategies to address risks to property, critical infrastructure and the natural environment.
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, Ministry of Municipal Affairs, and Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship The province understands concerns regarding the impacts of stormwater run-off with the need to plan around mitigating negative effects of future climate and weather events. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure supports a systems-based approach to working in the natural environment, including stormwater management. This involves working with partner ministries that are responsible for the regulation and management of all parts of the natural environment. For any highway infrastructure work planned around the province, it is a requirement for the ministrys design engineers and our consultants to consider how future climatic events will affect the infrastructure, and what can be done to make our roads and bridges more resilient, so they remain reliable and open. This approach means appropriate climate adaptation is considered over the entire design life of our highway infrastructure. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change strategy has published a best practice guide: Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia. In addition the Province partnered on the Beyond the Guidebook: Context for Rainwater Management and Green Infrastructure in British Columbia. When changes to our infrastructure affect other parties, such as provincial and federally regulated waterways and local government drainage and flood protection works, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure will work with the affected parties to ensure a solution is developed that provides climate resiliency for everyones infrastructure. Between January and March 2022, the Province reached out to the public for their input on a draft discussion paper and to learn what mattered to them in a future Watershed Security Strategy and Fund. We collected feedback from a wide range of perspectives from Indigenous nations, stakeholders and the public. The What We Heard report outlines feedback regarding how improved stormwater management approaches could be included in a Watershed Security Strategy and Fund. The report is available online at: https:engage.gov.bc.caappuploadssites121202211WatershedSecurityStrategy…