Community adaptation to climate-related flooding in Saskatchewan

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goal 13 advances planning and resilience particularly germane for communities at the forefront of exposure to climate impacts. With the increasing intensity and frequency of climate impacts, including flood, assessing the state of preparedness of communities through review of their policies, is increasingly important. This research used a mixed methods approach to develop community resilience indicators (based on planning for extreme flood events) supplemented by two round tables and six focus groups with community leaders in Saskatchewan.Several Saskatchewan communities were identified as exposed to extreme rainfall events as well as inundation from surrounding rivers and water bodies. Focus group and roundtable participants confirmed that flood events were becoming more frequent in recent years. Cities generally scored higher in resilience, however, some northern communities also scored high. Experience of floods wasn't a necessary prerequisite of flood planning as several communities had robust plans without historical flood experience. Communities that had experienced previous flood events scored higher on indicators of flood preparedness resilience. Two communities that had never experienced floods had high indicators, providing evidence that demonstrated coping capacity is not a necessary precondition of resilience.Explanations for failure to plan included inability to address contributing farming practices, the high cost of infrastructure, climate change denial within communities, and downplaying adaptation to climate change because of its high price tag. A generational divide was identified as concerning, and especially counterproductive to the attraction of young people to rural and remote communities. Solutions identified included expanding partnerships, sharing services within a wider regional community, and supporting capacity and leadership for this. While this research suffers from limitations relating to data availability, more research on why some communities have not yet planned for floods (even though they have experienced them) and a greater geography of study would be beneficial.