Reality Comes Flooding in

On June 29, 2023, Edmundston, New Brunswick lived through one of the worst rainfalls in the city’s history. Reports of up to 150 mm of rain fell in 60 minutes and the stormwater caused over 1.5 million dollars in damages. In total, 230 homes were affected.

“The management of water is one of the greatest challenges for a municipality,” says Daniel Gautreau, the City’s green spaces coordinator. “Stormwater management is becoming an increasingly important issue given the impact of climate change.”

The City of Edmundston is working collaboratively to fully comprehend their natural assets and watersheds, many of which cross borders between governments and communities. The city is home to about 17,500 people, and French is spoken by 95% of residents.

As climate change increases flood risks across Canada, effective flood resilience measures are more urgent than ever. When a storm hits a community like Edmundston without any warning, it can cause damage to life, property and create dangerous roads. Residents even experienced landslides caused by saturated soils.

“And I think it just goes to show that all communities need to be ready to try and mitigate these risks to our communities,” says Gautreau. “And once again, working with experts in the field helps us enormously.”

An innovative partner

INNOV, the applied research and innovation network at the Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB), is working on a number of projects with the City of Edmundston related to integrated watershed management from a climate adaptation perspective.

“We have to face up to this new reality…with a view to adapting to climate change,” says Dodick Gasser, biologist and applied ecology researcher at INNOV. “We’ve gone to great lengths to characterize the territory, the watersheds. We also put a lot of emphasis on the role of ecosystems in contributing to our personal and collective well-being. For example, the quality of our drinking water.”

Based on the presentation Dodick and team shared at the Community Solutions Network webinar on May 23rd, one of INNOV’s main objectives with Edmundston is to develop priority, nature-based land-use strategies for flood risk mitigation based on watershed characteristics.

“What we’re trying to do at INNOV is to provide a better knowledge of the territory, a better understanding of the role of ecosystems, to explain the role of ecosystems in the provision, supply and delivery of ecosystem services, and to provide reliable geospatial data,” says Gasser. “For us, it’s important to have reliable data to make informed decisions, and to provide planners with usable planning tools.

Map to help establish priority areas and zones (INNOV)

Pictured above is the spatial decision-support tool INNOV designed to define priority areas for development on the territory. This is a tool that can be used to evaluate areas where the implementation of developments is impossible, difficult or unlikely as well as the areas offering the main opportunities or greatest potential for flood risk reduction.

Building climate resilience with natural assets

For cities such as Edmundston, the conservation or restoration of watersheds, wetlands, grasslands and forested areas can help them adapt to climate change impacts. Reforestation, for example, can be an effective nature-based solution to flooding.

Nature-based solutions in more urban environments include rain gardens and bioswales to help absorb stormwater from paved areas. Bioswales are designed to concentrate and channel stormwater runoff while removing debris. They can take the form of xeriscaping, mulch or vegetation as groundcover.

The Town of Okatoks shared their decision to measure the value of their natural assets at a recent workshop hosted by our Community Solutions Network. Read their presentation The Natural and Naturalized Asset Inventory Project.

Find more resources on building climate resilience at the Evergreen Resource Hub.