Following devastating river flooding in 2013, The City of Calgary undertook a flood risk assessment to support resilience-building. A flood damage model was used to assess potential mitigation scenarios, leading to the development of The City’s Flood Resilience Plan. Since then, the model has been used to refine and monitor progress on the plan, by re-assessing potential flood damages as structural solutions are put in place. This session will discuss The City’s experience in using the model to guide implementation decisions and monitor residual damages, including the importance of scenario planning, required input and output data, incorporating secondary hazards (e.g., groundwater, erosion and stormwater backup), clarifying assumptions and implementing the results in a multi-factor or triple-bottom line analysis. This experience provided insights on considering both structural and non-structural mitigation, and how the model and other data can be leveraged when creating a flood resilience strategy to inform decisions around land use, building practices, equity and vulnerability — ultimately enabling citizens to better prepare for floods.
