Client:
Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering, City of Courtenay
Timing:
June 2022 to August 2024
Location:
City of Courtenay, BC
Their challenge
The City of Courtenay, a vibrant estuary city on Vancouver Island, faces a complex and growing flood risk. Situated at the confluence of the ocean and several rivers and creeks, the city has endured damaging floods throughout its history — and the threat is intensifying. Aging flood protection infrastructure no longer meets current standards, while increasing development pressure and the escalating effects of climate change are compounding the challenge. The city needed a comprehensive, forward-looking strategy to reduce flood risks and build long-term resilience.
Our solution
Ebbwater led a team to develop a best-practice Flood Management Plan aligned with the emerging British Columbia Flood Strategy. The team began with a detailed quantitative flood risk assessment — examining impacts to people, the economy, critical infrastructure, culture, and the environment across multiple time periods and flood scenarios — and complemented this with community input through public surveys and stakeholder engagement. Drawing on these findings, the team developed flood risk reduction and resilience options for using the PARAR framework (Protect, Accommodate, Retreat, Avoid, and Resilience-Building). Structural options were assessed alongside land use, bylaw, retrofitting, and emergency response measures, with cost estimates and concept drawings as relevant. A structured, values-based decision-making process guided the selection of recommended options, which were further refined through community and stakeholder feedback. The final Plan delivers tailored local recommendations, an integrated implementation framework, and a clear roadmap of short-, medium-, and long-term actions to meaningfully reduce flood risk across Courtenay.
Ebbwater helped us understand the flood risk faced by our community. They considered our community values and priorities, and identified the most suitable options to reduce the flood risk. This has given us the information we need to build resilience to future flood events.
– Jeanniene Tazzioli, P.Eng
Manager of Environmental Engineering, City of Courtenay
Services
Strategic Flood and Disaster Planning
Flood Risk Assessment
Climate Risk Assessment
Project assets
