Client:
BC Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (EMCR)
Timing:
February 2025 to July 2025
Location:
British Columbia
Their challenge
Under BC’s Disaster and Climate Risk and Resilience Assessment (DCRRA) program, the Province needed a clear understanding of what hazard information exists across the province, where the gaps are, and whether the available data can support analysis and decision-making.
Hazard data is widely available, but fragmented across HRVAs, climate plans, and technical studies. It varies significantly in coverage, structure, and level of detail, making it difficult to compare regions or use the information consistently. In many cases, available data is high-level and not directly usable for risk assessment or planning.
Our solution
Ebbwater developed a hazard information inventory to support regional-scale risk and resilience assessments. We compiled over 1,800 hazard records from existing studies across all BC regional districts and organized them using a standardized hazard classification and metadata framework, allowing information from different sources to be compared consistently. We also developed a database and a QGIS geospatial tool to organize and visualize hazard information across the province. Ebbwater assessed data quality, coverage, and usability, distinguishing high-level information from analysis-ready data and identifying key gaps and inconsistencies.
The project provided a foundation for regional risk assessments in BC. It shows where hazard data exists, where it is limited, and where it is missing, and also highlights differences in data quality across regions. The database and spatial tools support consistent comparison across regional districts and help prioritize future work. This project was completed on a short timeline of months with a tight budget.
Services
Strategic Flood and Disaster Planning
