Surrey begins first phase of climate resilience project

Key Takeaways:

• Surrey is embarking on a multi-phase project to upgrade its dyke systems.
• The city’s strategy is in response to increasingly severe flooding and storm events.
• Officials are seeking $10 million in provincial funding for the first phase.

The Whole Story:

Surrey officials are moving to bolster the city’s defenses against climate change. 

The B.C. city announced it is in the first phase of upgrading the dyke network to protect against flooding from increasingly more common high magnitude storm events.

Officials explained that the upgrades are being done to protect against flooding from increasingly more common high magnitude storm events. As a next step in enhancing the network, the city will be applying for $10 million in funding to upgrade the Nicomekl River Dyke.

“It is important that the city expand and enhance our dyke network to protect against the increasing effects of rising sea levels and storm events,” said Mayor Doug McCallum. “Upgrading and maintaining Surrey’s dykes are important because it provides effective protection against flooding from increasingly more common high magnitude storm events as was experienced in November of 2021. For these reasons, the city is applying for grant funding to significantly upgrade our dyke network.”

The city council has endorsed an application for grant funding for the Nicomekl River Dyke Upgrade Project, from 168 Street to 188 Street for a total of $10 million through B.C.’s Green Adaptation, Resilience & Disaster Mitigation Program (ARDM) as part of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. Officials noted that the city’s drainage utility has enough funding in its capital project reserve for the city’s financial portion (27 per cent) of the project’s eligible costs.

Surrey has approximately 100 kilometres of dykes throughout the city.