When houses float instead of flood

Water Institute member Elizabeth English, professor in the Faculty of Engineering, School of Architecture appeared on the The Agenda with Steve Paikin yesterday evening on TVO.

Water Institute member Elizabeth English, professor in the Faculty of Engineering, School of Architecture appeared on the The Agenda with Steve Paikin yesterday evening on TVO.

An impressive lineup of noted hydrogeologists will be presenting at this week’s NovCare 2019 International Conference organized by the University of Waterloo, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the Kansas Geological Survey and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research.
In 2012, high water sent the northwestern New Brunswick village of Perth-Andoverinto a state of emergency. The village of close to 1,600 people issued a mandatory evacuation order to about 500 people living in low-lying areas. The flooding closed schools and the local hospital, forcing the transfer of many patients to other hospitals in the area and caused an estimated $25 million in damage.
At a meeting of the International Joint Commission (IJC) on Friday, May 17, Commissioners Pierre Béland, Merrell-Ann Phare and F. Henry Lickers made a solemn declaration to faithfully and impartially perform the duties assigned under the Boundary Waters Treaty.

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.
