Canada has “flood amnesia.” Lessons from the Dutch would help treat it
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It's illuminating to compare Canada's efforts at preparing for and responding to flooding to those in the lowlands of the Netherlands. Dutch people consider it in the national interest to protect their cities from high water, yet few Dutch homes have overland flood insurance. Instead they rely on carefully managed water storage, barriers and dikes.
Their federal government, provinces and municipalities work with private landowners as well as elected water authorities, which are responsible for flood protection watershed by watershed. Climate modelling from the national Meteorological Institute is integral to all planning around water management. The Netherlands has also created a national risk map that clearly shows no-development zones.
Finally, the Dutch have applied cost-benefit analysis to flood-protection projects since 1901 to demonstrate that risk reduction is far cheaper than cleaning up after floods.
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The government spent the equivalent of $575 million in the city of Nijmegen to reduce flood risk by making room for the River Waal to expand during wet weather (360 million euros). This now-completed project required years of negotiations between governments and landowners before construction started. Effective collaboration resulted in much-improved flood resilience as well as a rebuilt waterfront and new amenities. The changes saved the downtown during high water in 2023.
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