JOSHUA ALLAN
The 1019 Report
Worried about the financial impacts of expanded flood zone designations, homeowners and municipal officials across Quebec are calling for public consultations on the provincial government’s proposed updates to its flood-risk maps, which are set to be approved later this spring.
“We want to be part of the decision, not be on the side,” said Vaudreuil-Dorion councillor Paul Dumoulin in an interview with The 1019 Report.
So far, calls aimed at the Quebec Environment Ministry to hold public consultations have been met with silence, Dumoulin said.
According to the proposed updates to the regional flood zone maps unveiled last October by the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, nearly 20,000 households in Vaudreuil-Dorion would be included in the expanded at-risk-for-flooding areas. That is just over 15,500 more properties than are included in the current flood zone maps.
Across the entire CMM, the new maps could see $9.9 billion in property values potentially negatively affected, with Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon estimating that about $2 billion of that property is located in his municipality.
“It’s a big thing for us,” Dumoulin said, explaining how drops in the valuation of homes would also impact home insurance and lead to reduction in revenues for the city.
“If the (property) valuation goes low, somebody’s going to have to pay for the difference,” he said, adding that this could put city services at risk.
The Quebec government will allow some flood protection measures to be taken into account on its flood maps, Josée Guimond, an Environment Quebec spokesperson said in an email to The 1019 Report. “But only in certain specific cases.”
“If a municipality carries out a study demonstrating that a (flood protection measure) on its territory meets the prescribed safety standards, the mapping of flood-prone areas will be modified to take account of the protection of this structure,” Guimond explained.
A government application form she provided points out that this measure may be applied to both public and private property.
Government approval of these protective measures will not be given lightly, Guimond pointing out, adding: “The failure of these structures can result in flooding that can be catastrophic for the people and property that normally benefit from their protection.”
After the CMM unveiled the draft of the proposed regional flood map last October that showed expanding flood zones alarm bells were raised. Government officials estimated that about 77,000 homeowners in the CMM would find themselves included in the new at-risk zones, an increase of 55,000 homes.
The map has since received condemnation from several municipal officials for what they viewed as a lack of consultation, with Pilon describing the process as “high-level stupidity.”
In February, Vaudreuil MNA Marie-Claude Nichols sponsored a National Assembly petition calling for a simplified process for citizens to request a revision to the flood maps, urging that improvements made to properties to make them more flood-risk resilient be allowed and demanding approval of the new maps be postpone until public consultations are held.
As of yesterday, the petition had been signed by 1,512 people. It will remain open until May 19.
Cutline:
Shaded areas indicate the territory in Vaudreuil-Dorion that is included in the various degrees of flood zones, according to the proposed new flood maps.