Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Flood Risk Management in Canada’s Prairie Provinces: an Analysis of Decision-Maker Priorities and Policy Preferences

  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

If the aim of flood risk management (FRM) is to increase society’s resilience to floods, then a holistic treatment of flood risk is required that addresses flood prevention, defence, mitigation, preparation, and response and recovery. Progressing resilience-based management to flood risk requires both diversity and coordination of policy across multiple jurisdictions. Decision makers and the types of FRM policy decisions they make play a key role in implementing FRM policies and strategies that progress flood resilience. This paper explores how policy preferences held by FRM decision makers relate to the characteristics of resilient FRM policy. The research was conducted in three flood-prone provinces in western Canada using a multi-criteria analytical approach. The results show that while decision maker FRM priorities are similar across the Canadian Prairies, their preferred FRM policies differ. Further, preferred FRM policies were largely resistance-based and influenced at least as much by flood experiences and perceptions of flood risk as by more obvious administrative pressures such as cost, public acceptability, and environmental protection. Several observations emerge from these results for advancing a coordinated, diversified approach to FRM which is required for resilience, both for western Canada and for FRM more broadly.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aerts JC, Botzen W, van der Veen A, Krywkow J, Werners S (2008) Dealing with uncertainty in flood management through diversification. Ecol Soc 13(1):Art 41

  • Ahmari H, Blais EL, Greshuk J (2016) The 2014 flood event in the Assiniboine River Basin: causes, assessment and damage. Can Water Res J 41(1–2):85–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Armitage D, de Loë RC, Morris M, Edwards TW, Gerlak AK, Hall RI, Mirumachi N (2015) Science–policy processes for transboundary water governance. Ambio 44(5):353–366

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Asong ZE, Wheater HS, Bonsal B, Razavi S, Kurkute S (2018) Historical drought patterns over Canada and their teleconnections with large-scale climate signals. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 22(6):3105–3124

    Google Scholar 

  • Baruch Y, Holtom BC (2008) Survey response rate levels and trends in organizational research. Hum Relat 61(8):1139–1160

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkhout F (2002) Technological regimes, path dependency and the environment. Glob Env Change 12(1):1–4

    Google Scholar 

  • Berrang-Ford L, Pearce T, Ford JD (2015) Systematic review approaches for climate change adaptation research. Reg Environ Change 15(5):755–769

    Google Scholar 

  • Blais EL, Greshuk J, Stadnyk T (2016) The 2011 flood event in the Assiniboine River Basin: causes, assessment and damages. Can Water Res J 41(1–2):74–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Bozza A, Asprone D, Manfredi G (2015) Developing an integrated framework to quantify resilience of urban systems against disasters. Nat Hazards 78(3):1729–1748

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks GR (2017) Red River Valley, Manitoba: The Geomorphology of a Low-Relief, Flood-Prone Prairie Landscape. In: Slaymaker O. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of Western Canada. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Cham

  • Brunner RD (2010) Adaptive governance as a reform strategy. Policy Sci 43(4):301–341

    Google Scholar 

  • Burch S, Sheppard SR, Shaw A, Flanders D (2010) Planning for climate change in a flood‐prone community: municipal barriers to policy action and the use of visualizations as decision‐support tools. J Flood Risk Manag 3(2):126–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Burn DH, Whitfield PH (2016) Changes in floods and flood regimes in Canada. Can Water Res J 41(1–2):139–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler C & Pidgeon N (2011) From ‘flood defence’ to ‘flood risk management’: exploring governance, responsibility and blame. Environ and Planning C, Government Policy, 29(3):533–547

  • Buttle JM, Allen DM, Caissie D, Davison B, Hayashi M, Peters DL, Pomeroy JW, Simonovic S, St-Hilaire A, Whitfield PH (2016) Flood processes in Canada: regional and special aspects. Can Water Res J 41(1–2):7–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Canadian Disaster Database. Public Safety Canada. http://cdd.publicsafety.gc.ca/srchpg-eng.aspx Accessed 24 Aug 2018

  • Cigler BA (2007) The “big questions” of Katrina and the 2005 great flood of New Orleans. Pub Admin Rev 67:64–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Communities and Local Government (2009) Multi-criteria analysis: a manual. Department for Communities and Local Government, London

  • Cook C (2014) Governing jurisdictional fragmentation: tracing patterns of water governance in Ontario, Canada. Geoforum 56:192–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Cutter SL, Mitchell JT, Scott MS (2000) Revealing the vulnerability of people and places: A case study of Georgetown County, South Carolina. Annals of the Assoc American Geographers 90(4):713–737

    Google Scholar 

  • De Bruijn KM (2004) Resilience and flood risk management. Water Policy 6(1):53–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Doberstein B, Fitzgibbons J, Mitchell C (2018) Protect, accommodate, retreat or avoid (PARA): Canadian community options for flood disaster risk reduction and flood resilience. Nat Hazards https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-018-3529-z

    Google Scholar 

  • Dumanski S, Pomeroy JP, Westbrook CJ (2015) Hydrological regime changes in a Canadian Prairie basin. Hydrol Proc 29(18):3893–3904

    Google Scholar 

  • Filatova T (2014) Market-based instruments for flood risk management: a review of theory, practice and perspectives for climate adaptation policy. Environ Sci Policy 37:227–242

    Google Scholar 

  • Filatova T, Verburg PH, Parker DC, Stannard CA (2013) Spatial agent-based models for socio-ecological systems: challenges and prospects. Environ Model Softw 45:1–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaddis EJB, Falk HH, Ginger C, Voinov A (2010) Effectiveness of a participatory modeling effort to identify and advance community water resource goals in St. Albans, Vermont. Environ Model Softw 25(11):428–1438

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilissen HK, Alexander M, Beyers JC, Chmielewski P, Matczak P, Schellenberger T, Suykens C (2016) Bridges over troubled waters: an interdisciplinary framework for evaluating the interconnectedness within fragmented flood risk management systems. J Water Law 25(1):12–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Gober P, Wheater HS (2014) Socio-hydrology and the science–policy interface: a case study of the Saskatchewan River basin. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 18(4):1413–1422

    Google Scholar 

  • Government of Alberta (2013) Alberta to support relocation from floodways. Government of Alberta, Edmonton, AB. https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=3482784398BCF-9405-835A-2DE3B19C7F64F031

  • Government of Alberta (2014a) Respecting our rivers: Alberta’s approach to flood mitigation. Government of Alberta, Edmonton, AB. https://open.alberta.ca/publications/6801949

  • Government of Alberta (2014b) June 2013 southern Alberta floods: one-year report. Government of Alberta, Edmonton, AB. https://www.alberta.ca/AlbertaCode/images/Flood-Recovery-One-Year-Report.pdf

  • Government of Manitoba (2003) The Manitoba water strategy. Government of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB. https://www.gov.mb.ca/waterstewardship/waterstrategy/pdf/water-strategy.pdf

  • Government of Manitoba (2009) Manitoba 2009 spring flood report. Government of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB. https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/2011flood/flood_review_task_force_report.pdf

  • Government of Manitoba (2013) Manitoba 2011 flood review task force report. Government of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB. https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/2011flood/flood_review_task_force_report.pdf

  • Government of Manitoba (2016) Assiniboine River and Lake Manitoba basins flood mitigation study. Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation, Winnipeg, MB. http://www.gov.mb.ca/mit/wms/wm/study.html

  • Green OO, Garmestani AS, van Rijswick HF, Keessen AM (2013) EU water governance: striking the right balance between regulatory flexibility and enforcement? Ecol Soc 18(2): Art.10

  • Gupta J, Pahl-Wostl C, Zondervan R (2013) Global water governance: a multi-level challenge in the anthropocene. Curr Opin Environ Sustainability 5(6):573–580

    Google Scholar 

  • GWP (2000) Integrated water resources management. Global Water Partnership Technical Advisory Committee, TAC Background papers, 4. https://www.gwp.org/globalassets/global/toolbox/publications/background-papers/04-integrated-water-resources-management-2000-english.pdf

  • Hegger DLT, Driessen PPJ, Bakker M (eds) (2016a) A view on more resilient flood risk governance: key conclusions of the STAR-FLOOD project. STAR-FLOOD Consortium, Utrecht, Netherlands

  • Hegger DL, Driessen PP, Wiering M, Van Rijswick HF, Kundzewicz ZW, Matczak P, … Larrue C (2016b) Toward more flood resilience: is a diversification of flood risk management strategies the way forward? Ecol Soc 21(4): Art. 52

  • Hümann M, Schüler G, Müller C, Schneider R, Johst M, Caspari T (2011) Identification of runoff processes—the impact of different forest types and soil properties on runoff formation and floods. J Hydro 409(3–4):637–649

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntjens P, Pahl‐Wostl C, Rihoux B, Schlüter M, Flachner Z, Neto S, Nabide Kiti I (2011) Adaptive water management and policy learning in a changing climate: a formal comparative analysis of eight water management regimes in Europe, Africa and Asia. Environ Policy Gov 21(3):145–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson CL, Tunstall SM, Penning-Rowsell EC (2005) Floods as catalysts for policy change: historical lessons from England and Wales. Int J Water Res Dev 21(4):561–575

    Google Scholar 

  • Klijn F, Samuels P, Van Os A (2008) Towards flood risk management in the EU: state of affairs with examples from various European countries. Int J River Basin Manag 6(4):307–321

    Google Scholar 

  • Kundzewicz ZW, Kanae S, Seneviratne SI, Handmer J, Nicholls N, Peduzzi P, Machler R, Bouwer L, Arnell N, Mach K, Muir-Wood R, Brakenridge GR, Kron W, Beniti G, Honda Y, Takahashi K, Sherstyukov B (2014) Flood risk and climate change: global and regional perspectives. Hydro Sci J 59(1):1–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Leiserowitz A (2006) Climate change risk perception and policy preferences: The role of affect, imagery, and values. Climatic Change 77(1-2):45–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyu HM, Sun WJ, Shen SL, Arulrajah A (2018) Flood risk assessment in metro systems of mega-cities using a GIS-based modeling approach. Sci Total Environ 626:1012–1025

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Messner F, Meyer V (2006) Flood Damage, Vulnerability and Risk Perception—Challenges for Flood Damage Research. In: Schanze J, Zeman E, Marsalek J (eds) Flood risk management: hazards, vulnerability and mitigation measures. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 149–167

  • Mileti D (1999) Disasters by design: A reassessment of natural hazards in the United States. Joseph Henry Press. Washington, DC

  • MNP (2015) Review and Analysis of the Government of Alberta’s Response to and Recovery from 2013 Floods. MNP LLP, 300-111 Richmond St. W., Toronto, ON, M5H 2G4

  • Morrison A, Noble BF, Westbrook CJ (2018) Flood risk management in the Canadian prairie provinces: defaulting towards flood resistance and recovery versus resilience. Can Water Res J 43(1):33–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Olmstead SM (2014) Climate change adaptation and water resource management: A review of the literature. Energy Econ 46:500–509

    Google Scholar 

  • OPBO (2016) Estimate of the Average Annual Cost for Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements due to Weather Events. Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Ottawa, Canada. www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca

  • Pahl-Wostl C, Becker G, Knieper C, Sendzimir J (2013) How multilevel societal learning processes facilitate transformative change: a comparative case study analysis on flood management. Ecol Soc 18(4):58

    Google Scholar 

  • Pahl-Wostl C, Craps M, Dewulf A, Mostert E, Tabara D, & Taillieu T (2007) Social learning and water resources management. Ecol Soc, 12(2): Art. 5

  • Pahl-Wostl C, Knieper C (2014) The capacity of water governance to deal with the climate change adaptation challenge: using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to distinguish between polycentric, fragmented and centralized regimes. Glob Environ Change 29:139–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Petak WJ (1985) Emergency management: a challenge for public administration. Public Admin Rev 45:3–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Pomeroy JW, Stewart RE, Whitfield PH (2016) The 2013 flood event in the South Saskatchewan and Elk River basins: causes, assessment and damages. Can Water Res J 41(1-2):105–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Qin XS, Huang GH, Chakma A, Nie XH, Lin QG (2008) A MCDM-based expert system for climate-change impact assessment and adaptation planning—a case study for the Georgia Basin, Canada. Expert Syst Appl 34(3):2164–2179

    Google Scholar 

  • Rayner J, Howlett M (2009) Introduction: understanding integrated policy strategies and their evolution. Policy Soc 28(2):99–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Red River Basin Commission (2011). Red river basin commission’s long term flood solutions for the Red river basin. https://www.redriverbasincommission.org/resources

  • Rijke J, Farrelly M, Brown R, Zevenbergen C (2013) Configuring transformative governance to enhance resilient urban water systems. Environ Sci Policy 25:62–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Saaty TL (1980) The analytic hierarchy process: planning, priority setting, resource allocation. McGraw-Hill International Book Company, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandink D, Kovacs P, Oulahen G, Shrubsole D (2016) Public relief and insurance for residential flood losses in Canada: current status and commentary. Can Water Res J 41:220–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Schanze J (2006) Flood risk management—a basic framework. In: Schanze J, Zeman E, Marsalek J (eds) Flood risk management: hazards, vulnerability and mitigation measures. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 1–20

  • Scottish Environment Protection Agency (2015) Strategic environmental assessment: flood risk management strategies. Scottish Environment Protection Agency. https://www.sepa.org.uk/media/163415/sea_environmental_report.pdf

  • Seher W, Löschner L (2018) Balancing upstream–downstream interests in flood risk management: experiences from a catchment‐based approach in Austria. J Flood Risk Manag 11(1):56–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheehan KB (2001) E-mail survey response rates: a review. J Computer-Mediat Commun 6(2):1. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2001.tb00117.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrubsole D (2013) A history of flood management strategies in Canada revisited. In: Keskitalo J (ed) Climate change and flood risk management: adaptation and extreme events at the local level. Edward Elgar Cheltenham, UK, pp 95–120

  • Singer MB (2007) The influence of major dams on hydrology through the drainage network of the Sacramento River basin, California. River Res Appl 23(1):55–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Sizo A, Noble B, Bell S (2016) Connecting the strategic to the tactical in SEA design: an approach to wetland conservation policy development and implementation in an urban context. Impact Assess Proj Apprais 34(1):44–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith MS, Horrocks L, Harvey A, Hamilton C (2011) Rethinking adaptation for a 4 C world. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Phys & Eng Sci 369(1934):196–216

  • Stadnyk T, Dow K, Wazney L, Blais EL (2016) The 2011 flood event in the Red River Basin: causes, assessment and damages. Can Water Res J 41(1–2):65–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Thaler TA, Priest SJ, Fuchs S (2016) Evolving inter-regional co-operation in flood risk management: distances and types of partnership approaches in Austria. Reg Environ Change 16(3):841–853

    Google Scholar 

  • Underdaal A (1980) Integrated marine policy: what? why? how? Mar Policy 4(3):159–169

    Google Scholar 

  • van Herk S, Rijke J, Zevenbergen C, Ashley R (2015) Understanding the transition to integrated flood risk management in the Netherlands. Environ Innov Soc Transit 15:84–100

    Google Scholar 

  • van Huylenbroeck G (1995) Multicriteria analysis of the conflicts between rural development scenarios in the Gordon District, Scotland. J Environ Plan Manag 38(3):393–408

    Google Scholar 

  • Wachinger G, Renn O, Begg C, Kuhlicke C (2013) The risk perception paradox—implications for governance and communication of natural hazards. Risk Anal 33(6):1049–1065

    Google Scholar 

  • WaterSmart (2013) The 2013 Great Alberta Flood: Actions to Mitigate, Manage and Control Future Floods. Alberta WaterSmart Management Solutions Ltd. 200, 3512–33rd Street NW, Calgary, Alberta T2L 2A6

  • Watson N, Shrubsole D, Mitchell B (2019) Governance Arrangements for Integrated Water Resources Management in Ontario, Canada, and Oregon, USA: Evolution and Lessons. Water 11(4):663

    Google Scholar 

  • White GF & Haas JE (1975) Assessment of research on natural hazards. M.I.T. Press. Cambridge, Mass., USA

  • White L, Noble B (2012) Strategic environmental assessment in the electricity sector: an application to electricity supply planning, Saskatchewan, Canada. Impact Assess Proj Apprais 30(4):284–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Winsemius HC, Aerts JC, van Beek LP, Bierkens MF, Bouwman A, Jongman B, Ward PJ (2016) Global drivers of future river flood risk. Nat Clim Change 6(4):381

    Google Scholar 

  • Zevenbergen C, Gersonius B (2007) Challenges in urban flood management. In: Ashley R, Garvin S, Pasche E, Vassilopoulos A, Zevenbergen C (eds) Advances in urban flood management. Taylor and Francis, New York, NY, p 1–11

  • Zhu F, Zhong PA, Xu B, Wu YN, Zhang Y (2016) A multi-criteria decision-making model dealing with correlation among criteria for reservoir flood control operation. J Hydroinform 18(3):531–543

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge Andrea Carroll for research support and study participants.

Funding

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [430-2014-01116].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Planning, University of Saskatchewan, Kirk Hall, 117 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5C8, Canada

    Alasdair Morrison, Bram F. Noble & Cherie J. Westbrook

Authors
  1. Alasdair Morrison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bram F. Noble
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cherie J. Westbrook
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alasdair Morrison.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Morrison, A., Noble, B.F. & Westbrook, C.J. Flood Risk Management in Canada’s Prairie Provinces: an Analysis of Decision-Maker Priorities and Policy Preferences. Environmental Management 64, 608–625 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-019-01208-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-019-01208-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation