Client:
Natural Resources Canada
Timing:
April 2020 to March 2021
Location:
Canada (federal project)
Their challenge
The federal government does not have an authoritative source for accessible, consistent, and comprehensive flood hazard data across Canada. Most flood hazard data is held at the level of Provinces, Territories, Conservation Authorities, or local government, and typically, flood datasets vary in spatial data type, attributes, and quality. Therefore, Natural Resources Canada was looking to build a national flood hazard data layer, to include all existing high-quality flood maps from across Canada, to inform government initiatives such as the National Risk Profile, the National Flood Portal, and science-based policy and decision-making.
Our solution
We partnered with an artificial intelligence company (Minerva Intelligence Inc.) to develop a National Flood Hazard Data Layer (NFHDL) to store existing, high-quality flood hazard data from all across Canada. Ebbwater collected, reviewed, and assessed flood hazard data and methodology from provincial/territorial and local jurisdictions, and engaged in interviews and online surveys with Provincial/Territorial flood and geomatics data managers to identify their flood data availabilities and formats, and to learn about their needs for a NFHDL. The primary deliverable was a new standard schema for flood hazard data mapping for Canada, incorporating all available flood hazard data in a consistent format and including detailed attributes and metadata descriptions.
Services
Flood Hazard Assessment and Flood Mapping
Project assets
Figure 1: National Flood Hazard Data Layer, indicating flood hazard study areas (incl. detailed metadata for each study), flood hazard areas, flood inundation areas, historic flood extents, and raster data extents across Canada.
National Flood Hazard Data Layer Project – Environmental Scan – Current State of Flood Mapping in Canada
Final report can be obtained in English or French upon request