Emergency Management Coordinators Learn About Flood Forecasting and Warning at ABCA’s Annual Flood Emergency Planning Meeting

by Bob Montgomery

The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority hosted its annual Flood Emergency Planning Meeting earlier this month. More than 30 people attended including police officers, representatives of counties and municipalities, including municipal Community Emergency Management Coordinators and local public health staff.

ABCA General Manager and Secretary-Treasurer Davin Heinbuck spoke about ABCA’s flood forecasting and warning program for municipalities and about the roles and responsibilities of the Province of Ontario, municipalities, conservation authorities and other agencies during flood events. He also spoke about watershed conditions and the current flood outlook, but he says part of the challenge they're facing now is that conditions are not as predictable as they once were. “We don't seem to have what I would call a traditional winter where we would get our snow and that would build up and then we'd expect spring weather to come and we'd typically have a runoff and sometimes flooding in March or April. We're not seeing that as much now. Now we're seeing winter melt more frequently or sometimes we're not seeing much snow at all during the winter and not having that spring runoff.” Heinbuck says that could impact ground water supplies or stream flows throughout the year.

Heinbuck says what we're seeing more now is just rain in January because there's no snow to melt and the typical spring melt and rain fall and the flooding that goes with that is now spread out more evenly throughout the year. What that means for them is they have to ready for a flood at just about any time of year. “We have to be paying a lot more attention and not just during traditional periods but ensuring that our flood monitoring networks are functioning and we can rely on them year-round.”