NPCA has tools to forewarn residents of potential spring flooding
It’s spring in Niagara, which means blooming flowers, budding trees, longer days, and warming weather as nature reawakens from its winter slumber.
And depending where you live in the region, it can also mean potential flooding.
Steve Miller, Senior Manager of Water Resources at the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA), spoke to the Voice about the tools the agency uses to deal with such emergencies.
The NPCA is a community-based natural resource management agency that works to protect, enhance, and sustain healthy watersheds. For some 60 years, the NPCA has offered programs and services that focus on flood and hazard management, source water protection, species protection, ecosystem restoration, community stewardship, and land management. The NPCA is one of 36 conservation authorities in the province.
“There are three kinds of flooding, and the NPCA looks after the first two,” said Miller. “The first is river flooding, when a creek or river overflows its banks. The second is Great Lakes shoreline flooding, which is a result of wave action and storm surges. The third type is urban flooding, which sometimes occurs after a big weather event when storm sewers back up and flood residential basements. That’s the responsibility of the local municipality.”
Flood prediction is a complex process, and there is a high degree of dependence on day-to-day weather forecasts and conditions. NPCA conducts snow surveys twice a month from November to May, where snow at seven sites across the watershed is measured and weighed. This data is collected and analyzed for flooding potential.
“We identify areas that are prone to flooding by doing things like floodplain mapping, and direct new development away from an area that's flood-prone,” said Miller. “People love to build homes around water, so we need a complete flood forecasting and warning program.”
When flooding is imminent, the NPCA issues flood advisories to municipal emergency management officials, the media, and the community at large. The province has in place flood messaging standards using a colour-coded system, ranging from green (no flooding conditions) to red (flood warning in effect), with water safety statements for recreational anglers, hikers, and boaters.
The NPCA monitors stream flow, rainfall, and other meteorological information at locations across the watershed, through a network of stations called a hydrometric network. This specialized equipment measures, records, stores, and transmits data, and allows for the sharing of information in real time.
“A network of gauges throughout the watershed that have been installed on a creeks and rivers that tell us the level of the water, and we have a system of climate stations that provide information on how much snow or rain has fallen,” said Miller. “Every day, a conservation authority staffer checks the levels of the water courses in our area, along with the forecasts put out by Environment Canada, so we can get a sense of what to expect during a weather event.”
NPCA also has access to weather radar from the Buffalo International Airport and Pearson International in Toronto.
“If we get an indication that there is a severe weather event pending with potential flooding, we'll issue a flood bulletin on social media, via our website and an email blast, and also have feeds on Facebook and Twitter,” said Miller. “You can also get an app on your iOS or Android mobile device, called Alertable. It's a free download from the Apple Store or Google Play, with a link to our website.”
Miller noted that messages can also be geographically targeted, so if there is a storm surge on Lake Erie, only residents living within 300 metres of that shoreline can be notified.
Environment Canada is calling for a generally cooler, wetter spring than we typically would see, which will transition into a warmer, drier summer forecast.
NPCA flood advisories can be viewed online at www.npca.ca/flood-status. The free Alertable app is available at www.alertable.ca.
