Dave Murray, senior partner and water resources engineer for Kerr Wood Leidal Consulting Engineers, talks about intense floods and spending on flood protection, including the cycle of investment in flood protection, and the tendency for investments to come primarily within four years after big floods.
Murray wonders if there is a more accurate way to assess risk in flood frequency analysis. He talks about the complexity of incorporating risk into current models, and lists some of the tools that can be used to assess risk, such as hazard mapping, land-use planning, and flood vulnerability assessments. Other possible factors to consider are the risk tolerance of communities, and the incremental risk of new developments.
He discusses the increased interest that insurance companies in Canada are expressing towards flood risk assessments and continued hydrological research, and reviews what other countries are doing. For example, the US imposes mandatory flood insurance, and Switzerland invests money into developing hazard zoning maps. The future of CWRA is discussed, and he explains it should include providing professional guidance at the provincial and federal level; striving to shape policy and practice, and working with insurance, and other organizations that have influence with the government, to ensure a better future.
This presentation was a part of the CWRA Alberta Branch Annual Conference, March 2014.
