A report from the Montreal Metropolitan Community (MMC) has concluded that the Montreal region is too uncoordinated in its preparation for flooding events.
The MMC produced a report based on an assessment of how 24 municipalities handled the floods this spring. The report found that water levels observed at the height of the flood were beyond projected levels, which it blames on faulty data.
According to the MMC, the current models that forecast water levels failed to account for heavier rain and faster snowmelt, which are either the results of climate change or the ever-changing and complex dynamics of the waterways that feed into the Montreal archipelago.
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The report also noted that the municipalities assessed are also not accounting for changes in land use along waterways, as well as the reduction of natural areas that can absorb water swells.
“It’s not surprising to me that different communities have different parameters to evaluate flood zones,” Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough mayor and MMC urban planning committee member Jim Beis told
CBC.
“We’re evaluating how data is collected so we can standardise across all communities... we’re still in preliminary stages.”
The report also blames the provincial government for distancing itself from flood planning and passing the responsibility on to municipalities.
“The province should take a front seat in this analysis, to assist the communities,” Beis said. “We can’t spot fix these situations and expect them to not occur downriver.”
In conclusion, the report recommends that the municipalities should coordinate better on flood planning and settle on a single flood model that takes into account all possible flood factors. The report also suggests the adoption of high-tech tools that project real-time flood risks.
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