Mountainous areas of southern British Columbia, Canada, are subject to floods, debris flows and debris floods that can damage property, sever lifelines infrastructure, and cause loss of life. The 2021 consequences of wildfires and atmospheric rivers have kept these issues at the forefront of public concern and highlight the need for coordinated approaches to manage risk. While a de-centralized approach to geohazards management in BC has placed risk management responsibilities with those closest to the need, it has also created knowledge silos and divided responsibilities that are barriers to risk reduction. We have been working with local governments and partners to integrate geohazards management projects across jurisdictional boundaries and organizational responsibilities, where the connection of knowledge, tools, funding, and approaches is creating a stronger path to risk reduction than any single authority may accomplish in isolation. Steps of integrated risk prioritization encompass about one third of BC to date, with data models built to support a provincial knowledge hub. Regional flood and steep creek risk prioritization compares relative contributions of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability to risk, with detailed flood and steep creek assessments in high priority areas followed by risk assessment, policy integration and risk control planning. Current steps include the incorporation of post-wildfire and post-November 2021 flood recovery efforts into risk management planning, and further work to connect private and public sector parties with different responsibilities but shared incentives to manage risk.
