In the wake of devastating flooding and mudslides throughout the Pacific Northwest, many communities across British Columbia are considering “managed retreat” as part of their flood mitigation strategies. As climate change threatens residents and infrastructure, more people will be forced to relocate.

A new analysis by the Globe and Mail (using new floodplain maps developed by the University of Western Ontario) reveals just how vulnerable Canadian cities are to flooding, with more than 30 Canadian cities with populations >10,000 having at least 10% of the cities buildings located in a 100-year floodplain, a risky exposure even today. But how will hydrologic conditions change in the future? What impact will climate change exert on floodplains? In fact, what does a “100-year” flood even mean when the climate changes? We know that climate change increases extreme precipitation, so how can we account for these future changes today? These are all questions that we are hoping to explore with the Canada 1 Water project.

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has released a new working paper (Change in global freshwater storage) which highlights the need for strategic thinking about the longevity of the world’s freshwater stores, especially ‘operational’ water storage (i.e. the portion of global water resources which can actually be utilized by people). The paper highlights some worrying trends, with a total loss of global terrestrial water storage of approximately 27,000 billion cubic meters! These losses are driven by melting glaciers, degradation of lakes/wetlands and over-abstraction of groundwater resources.

CBC News is highlighting the risks posed by climate change in a new series with Meteorologist Christy Climenhaga that will explore weather and climate change in Canada’s Prairie provinces. The article is clear, climate change will have a huge impact on water supply and management. Despite an overall predicted increase in precipitation in the Prairies, the duration and severity of droughts are also predicted to increase.

CBC News discusses climate change impacts across four important categories including: wildfires, cities/floods, food production and indigenous health.

The C1W team needs a diverse set of partners to help us quantify second order impacts to food production systems, indigenous health, forest health/wildfires and the housing market. If you are interested in collaborating with the C1W team to answer these questions don’t hesitate to contact us (info@aquanty.com)!