Description

1) Scalability of flood mapping from street-level to state-level enables situational awareness ahead of, during, and after flood events
Kelsey McDonough, PhD, FloodMapp, kelsey@floodmapp.com
Co-presenters: Mark Slauter, mark.s@floodmapp.com; Juliette Murphy, juliette@floodmapp.com

Abstract: One of the key challenges before, during, and after a flood event is situational awareness about how a flood event is evolving and identification of the most heavily impacted locations. A common operating picture, or COP, enables the continuous delivery of critical information to provide situational awareness and evidence to support decision making, planning, and coordination of actions taken. Varying stakeholders involved in all levels of emergency response can access a COP and receive the same information, regardless of whether their response is focused on the street-level, community-level, or across an entire state. FloodMapp partnered with Transport for New South Wales (NSW) to provide NowCast and PostCast flood mapping on the Unleash Live platform for the purpose of asset assessment and recovery. Displaying near real time and historical flood mapping at an accuracy comparable to industry-standard models, NowCast and PostCast provide a big picture overview of widespread flooding with inundation intelligence down to the asset level. Using FloodMapp’s products on a COP ensured that Transport for NSW could understand the impact to their infrastructure across the state of NSW, communicate to customers, and subsequently plan asset inspections, recovery, and restoration activities. This enables efficient prioritization of assessment locations and tactical deployment of resources in support of on-the-ground teams who are evaluating flood-related impacts to assets and people, thus expediting the post-flood recovery effort.

2) Case study: National-level multi-criteria analysis and prioritization for flood hazard mapping in Canada
Maxim Fortin, P.Eng., Natural Resources Canada, maxim.fortin@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca
Co-presenters: Brian Perry, brian.perry@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

Abstract: Floods are the most frequent and costly natural hazard in Canada, causing over $1 billion in damages annually (IBC, 2018). Accurate flood hazard maps are essential tools to manage and mitigate flood risks, and various government initiatives carried out under federal-provincial agreements were instrumental in advanced flood mapping, along with many province or territory-led initiatives. Current data indicates that many areas in Canada are either covered by outdated flood hazard maps or not covered at all. Additional and continuous investment is required, and a new federal program is implemented to further advance flood mapping in Canada: the Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program (FHIMP). With a fixed amount of funding available and a substantial need across the country, it is essential to develop decision-support tools to ensure funding addresses higher-risk areas. A national-level multi-criteria analysis was implemented to identify priority areas for flood hazard mapping in Canada. This prioritization process took into account population exposure to flood hazards at various return periods, estimated flood damages, climate change, socio-economic vulnerability, and existing flood hazard map coverage. Each criteria was assigned a weight to evaluate an overall risk index at the municipality level, and municipalities were then prioritized within each province and territory. Results were reviewed with provincial and territorial counterparts through bilateral discussions, and adjusted to take into account jurisdictional priorities. This prioritization analysis will be maintained and updated as new data becomes available to be used as a decision-support and analysis tool as required by federal departments.

3) Increasing Canada’s resilience to flooding: Introducing the Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program (FHIMP)
Brian Perry, EIT, MASc, Natural Resources Canada, brian.perry@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca
Co-presenters: Maxim Fortin, maxim.fortin@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

Abstract:Major flooding across southern Alberta in 2013 resulted in tragic loss of life and multi-billion dollar damages for the public and all levels of government. This experience led to a renewed interest in flood mapping and major investment in local resiliency initiatives across the province. A decade later in 2023, over 1600 km – 1000 miles – of new and updated mapping has been completed through 85 municipalities and five Indigenous communities. More final flood mapping was delivered to Albertans in 2023 than over the past 35 years combined, including 600 km of updated mapping and 1000 km of mapping in new areas. This unprecedented Canadian flood mapping initiative was not without challenges. Alberta modernized its flood mapping program, implemented a new approach to mapping floodways and updating regulatory flood maps, and reinforced local authority review and public engagement processes. Alberta now maps open water and ice jam flooding for at least thirteen different sized events, from the 1:2 to 1:1000 flood, to support emergency response and long term planning. Technical guidelines support both 1D and 2D hydraulic modelling approaches, outline quantitative and quantitative climate change assessment expectations, clarify when reservoir-regulated flood flows can be used for flood mapping, and eliminate encroachment analysis from regulatory floodway delineation standards. Other significant changes include existing floodways not getting larger when flood maps are updated and the introduction of a new high hazard flood fringe zone, reflecting flood mitigation infrastructure in flood maps with a new protected flood fringe zone, and providing information about a wider range of flood hazards than the 1:100 design flood, such as the 1:200 and 1:500 floods. This presentation will outline major elements of the modernized Alberta flood mapping program, and highlight similarities and differences to programs in the USA and other Canadian jurisdictions.