NORTHEAST — The Water Security Agency is hoping a change in its flood prevention program will encourage more communities to apply for funding.
The new Long-Term Flood Mitigation Program is an evolution of the Emergency Flood Damage Reduction Program, which was created in 2011 and had around 3,400 clients access $74 million to design and construct temporary and permanent flood works.
“I know we haven’t had a huge uptake in our program which preceded this, the Emergency Flood Damage Reduction Program, for the first part of the fiscal year,” said Ron Podbielski, the agency’s spokesperson.
The provincial government’s fiscal year goes from April 1 to March 31.
“The shift in the program for the remainder of this fiscal year is really to try and get communities to really think about the future in terms of proactive flood planning design,” Podbielski said.
The old program also focused more on imminent flood risk, while the new one is more long-term.
There’s $1.5 million allocated for the new program for the rest of the fiscal year. Podbielski said that amount is based on previous demand and is something that could be changed in later years if there’s more interest.
Municipalities can get funding in four major areas: structural projects, mitigation planning, mapping flood plains, and hydrologic and hydraulic investigations to develop risk assessments.
Those that are successful in applying will see the cost shared 50/50 between themselves and the agency.
“We know there’s a huge cost benefit that occurs when communities invest in permanent flood reduction measures,” Podbielski said. “They’re much more effective than when you’re in a flooding situation and you have to do temporary measures such as sandbags or temporary dikes.”
The agency is also working with the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities to encourage more communities to apply as the need for flood mitigation projects comes up.
