Floodplain management in Canada: overview and prospects

Flooding is an important natural process. It plays a vital role in the maintenance of floodplain and shoreline ecosystems. Yet, it also is a hazard, in that floods put human life and property at risk. Paradoxically, flooding is a hazard only because humans have chosen to occupy flood‐vulnerable areas, such as riverine floodplains and lake or coastal shorelines. Recent major floods in Canada are a reminder that vulnerability to floods remains high. Responses to the flooding “problem” have evolved in Canada from an emphasis on controlling “water out of place” through structural measures such as dams and dikes, to managing human behaviour using zoning to keep development away from hazardous areas. In Canada, the federal‐provincial Flood Damage Reduction Program, initiated in 1975, has been an important vehicle for delivering a consistent, national approach to floodplain management. However, as of early 1999, the federal government has allowed the program to wind down while it reconsiders its role in water management ‐ effectively leaving the field of flood damage reduction to the provinces. This creates both challenges and opportunities. The challenge will be to avoid a return to the spiral of increasing flood damages and disaster assistance payments that characterized the period up to 1975. At the same time, however, opportunities exist to take stock of floodplain management, and to evaluate alternative future directions, including a more integrated approach to flooding. Les inondations font partie d'un processus naturel important. En particulier, elles contribuent largement à entretenir les écosystèmes des plaines inondables et des zones riveraines. Pourtant, elles constituent aussi un risque dans la mesure où elles mettent en danger la vie des gens et les propriétés. Paradoxalement, les inondations ne sont un risque que parce que les être humains ont choisi d'occuper des zones susceptibles d‘être inondées, comme les plaines riveraines inondables, les rives des lacs et le littoral marin. Les inondations importantes qui se sont récemment produites au Canada nous ont rappelé notre grande vulnérabilitéà leur égard. Notre réaction à l'endroit du “problème” que représentent les inondations a d'ailleurs évolué. Au lieu de nous concentrer comme autrefois sur l'adoption de mesures structurelles comme des barrages et des digues pour empêcher l'eau de s’échapper librement, nous agissons maintenant sur le comportement humain en décourageant les installations dans les zones dangereuses. Au Canada, le programme fédéral‐provincial de réduction des dommages causés par les inondations, lancé en 1975, a beaucoup contribuéà l‘élaboration d'une approche nationale cohérente dans la gestion des plaines inondables. Cependant, au début de 1999, le gouvernement fédéral, qui repense son rôle dans la gestion des eaux, a autorisé l’élimination progressive du programme, laissant tout bonnement aux provinces la responsabilité de la réduction des dommages causés par les inondations. Ce nouvel état de choses soulève évidemment toutes sortes de difficultés, mais aussi des possibilités. Entre autres difficultés, il faudra éviter de retomber dans la spirale des paiements d'aide aux sinistrés et de compensation pour les dommages issus des inondations qui a caractérisé la période antérieure à 1975. Parallèlement, sur le plan des possibilités, il faudra prendre en main la gestion des plaines inondables et évaluer les différentes orientations possibles, y compris l'adoption d'une approche plus intégrée de lutte contre les inondations.     

THE ACTUAL AND PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF FLOODPLAIN LAND-USE REGULATIONS ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY VALUES IN LONDON, ONTARIO

The impacts associated with floodplain management adjustments should be understood. This paper addresses this need by describing the perceived and actual impacts floodplain regulations have had on residential land values in a portion of London, Ontario. The institutional arrangements for floodplain regulation and the actual practice of regulation in the City of London for the period 1978–1989 are described. Actual impacts on land values were determined through use of a geographical matching technique based on data obtained from mls sources and permit data available at the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority office. Perceptual data were acquired from a questionnaire survey of floodplain landowners. Findings indicate that most residents perceived that no impact on land values was associated with floodplain regulations. This view was supported by the analysis of actual home transactions     

Settlement and subsistence among the Early Formative Gulf Olmec

Mounting archaeological evidence suggests that floodplain resources, not maize (Zea mays) agriculture, were instrumental in the emergence of Early Formative (ca. 1500–900 uncal BC) complexity across Mesoamerica’s isthmian lowlands. The lion’s share of these data derives from the Pacific side of the isthmus; discussions of the Early Formative Olmec along Mexico’s southern Gulf lowlands have not kept pace. This paper presents settlement and subsistence data that highlight the role of floodplain resources in the development of Gulf Olmec politico-economic complexity. These data support a non-agricultural alternative to traditional models of Gulf Olmec emergence at San Lorenzo, the premier Early Formative Gulf lowlands center. Increased productivity of maize toward the end of the Early Formative period challenged San Lorenzo’s extant politico-economic basis, bringing about a short-term, hyper-acceleration of elite competitive displays. Ultimately, the adoption of maize agriculture generated a reorganized Middle Formative period (ca. 900–400 uncal BC) landscape in and around San Lorenzo. This agrarian adjustment saw occupation move out of the floodplain and into the upland areas, a process sometimes characterized as a cataclysmic system collapse in the Coatzacoalcos basin.