District of Squamish recognized for excellence in engineering and planning

The District of Squamish, along with its consulting team Kerr Wood Leidal Associates Ltd., Arlington Group and SNC-Lavalin, has been recognized by the Planning Institute of British Columbia (PIBC) Award of Excellence in Planning and Individual Achievement in the Research and New Directions category for its Integrated Flood Hazard Management Plan (IFHMP). The award was presented during the PIBC 2018 Annual Conference in Victoria earlier this month. District of Squamish Municipal Engineer David Roulston has also been recognized by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) as one of ten ‘Best for Canada’ Municipal Innovators for his work on the project.

“The Integrated Flood Hazard Management Plan is an innovative Squamish-born approach to community resiliency and this award is a testament to the three years of technical work, policy updates and community engagement that went into developing the plan,” says District of Squamish Mayor Patricia Heintzman. “Comprehensive forward-thinking plans, such as this, are imperative for achieving funding success for critical infrastructure. We wish to thank the Planning Institute of British Columbia and Federation of Canadian Municipalities for their recognition.”

Adopted in 2017, the District of Squamish IFHMP is a comprehensive flood management strategy with over 100 specific tools designed to manage flood risk in Squamish and guide community development. The plan combines elements of land use planning, structural protection, river management, public education and emergency planning that will be utilized for capital and community planning over the course of the next five to ten years. The project has broken new ground in British Columbia in terms of flood analysis and policy development, and is considered to be one of the most robust flood management plans in the province.

The IFHMP identified the Squamish River dike raising along Upper Judd Slough in Brackendale project as highest priority.The District has been awarded $3.9 million in Gas Tax funding for 1.2 kilometres of Squamish River dike upgrades set to begin later this year.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities Top 10 ‘Best for Canada’ Municipal Innovator group will highlight innovative work taking place across the country in a variety of fields. The group will be given opportunities over the next year to share project insights and learning experiences with other municipalities.

For more information about the Integrated Flood Hazard Management Plan visit https://squamish.ca/floodhazard.

June 15, 2018