News

Next year, the federal government will begin uploading nearly 2,000 user-friendly flood plain maps, updating them with the most recent geospatial data. Eventually, entire communities will find themselves publicly identified as at-risk. What that will do to the value of their homes and their flood insurance premiums (assuming they can even get insurance), is obvious.

The Water Institute congratulates six researchers at the University of Waterloo on recently receiving more than $3.8 million to collaborate with Canadian-based companies and government organizations on strategic research projects.

Water Institute member Blair Feltmate, professor in Waterloo's School of Environment, Enterprise and Development and the head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo, spoke with Vassy Kapelos on CBC’s Power & Politics about flood risk.

Instead of trying to control or prevent flooding, residents should adapt their homes to withstand it, says an architect who develops amphibious homes.

Keith Hipel, Water Institute member and professor in Waterloo's Department of Systems Design Engineering, has been awarded the 2019 Killam Prize through the Canada Council for the Arts.

This coveted $100,000 national award for scholars is given annually to eminent, active scholars in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences and engineering.

Cartographic depictions of areas most likely to flood under certain conditions are invaluable resources for Canadians. But unfortunately, the vast majority do not have access to such maps

Is Quebec Premier François Legault’s offer to pay homeowners $200,000 to abandon their flood-prone houses an example of government largesse, or an unjust drop in the bucket for residents whose homes were once worth far more?

The answer is complex, because when it comes to building homes on flood plains, there are several players who may share the blame, including the federal, provincial and municipal governments, the homeowners, and a capricious global weather system.