COURTENAY, B.C- Courtenay’s municipal government is working on figuring out what climate change will do to the city.
According to a news release from the city, Courtenay was selected to participate in a project led by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), called Canada’s Together for Climate.
The project has been awarded two years’ funding from the Real Estate Foundation of BC, and will run from fall 2018 to summer 2020.
The funding will support a group of eight local and regional governments on Vancouver Island, including to Courtenay, to develop climate change adaptation strategies through an established framework over the coming two years.
Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of storms, with an increase of storm water runoff. The city will be consulting with technical staff from local stakeholder groups to figure out areas of main concern, look at the impact of increased stormwater runoff, and determine ways to mitigate and adapt practices to address that impact.
“Climate change is a global concern, and we want to investigate collective, multi-jurisdictional strategies that will help Courtenay adapt,” said Ryan O’Grady, Director of Engineering Services for the city.
“The ICLEI Together for Climate project also complements efforts that are underway in Courtenay examining our municipal natural asset management, as well as the upcoming development of our integrated storm water management plan. The lessons we learn through these initiatives will help inform future storm water practices in our city, as well as other coastal communities. We’re grateful for the opportunity to participate.”
ICLEI Canada is a non-profit specializing in supporting municipalities with climate change planning efforts.
The workshops will be facilitated by ICLEI. The first workshop will be held in December, according to the city, focused on the launch and preliminary climate impacts.
The next three workshops will focus on vulnerability and risk assessment in early 2019, preliminary action brainstorming in mid-2019 with goals and objectives, and action prioritization and implementation planning in mid-2019.
