Fredericton, NB (October 1, 2020) – Campbell River, BC has received national recognition for its Campbell River Rising Seas project from the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA). The City has been presented with the 2020 CAMA Environment Award, in the 20,001 to 100,000 population category, during a Virtual Awards of Excellence Ceremony.

“CAMA is pleased to recognize Campbell River for its proactive action plan,” said Jake Rudolph, president of CAMA and Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Nanaimo, BC. “This project will help the city face the daunting challenges presented by a rising sea level.”

The Rising Seas project led to Council’s recent adoption of its first ever Sea Level Rise Action Plan. This project took a broad view of flood risk posed by future sea level rise and engaged the public in choosing appropriate responses that also promote shoreline values such as ecology, access, and views. Public outreach, youth engagement, and dialogue with First Nations have been key project components.

The City hired coastal engineers to perform technical analyses, modelling extreme marine and weather conditions before factoring in future sea level rises. This resulted in a set of flood construction levels being defined for the entirety of the urbanized coastline, on which a future flood bylaw will be based. Analysis then went further and evaluated different feasible flood mitigation measures in various locations. Read more...