Whereas communities across British Columbia face increasing flood risks due to climate change, extreme weather events, and aging dike infrastructure currently present an unacceptable level of risk to many communities necessitating proactive flood protection measures; And whereas in 2024 the province put forward From Flood Risk to Resilience: a BC Flood Strategy to 2035 that highlights the need for adaptive and practical flood risk management solutions, yet many local governments face financial constraints that prevent them from fully upgrading dikes to provincial standards which require costly upgrades that may delay urgent flood protection measures: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the Province of British Columbia to amend dike policies to allow interim dike upgrades that are part of a plan to achieve all provincial dike standards, provide practical and meaningful flood protection, serving as a step toward full compliance as funding allows in recognition of both the short-term need to reduce existing risk to communities and the long-term need for the highest standards of flood protection.
