The minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency (WSA), Dustin Duncan, announced that WSA is transitioning the Emergency Flood Damage Reduction Program (EFDRP) to the Flood Damage Reduction Program (FDRP) for the remainder of the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
Beginning August 1, 2019, the transition moves from the emergency focus toward long-term flood mitigation projects. Applications from municipalities will be accepted until September 15, 2019.
“The Water Security Agency is pleased to once again provide long-term flood mitigation measures for high-risk communities,” said Duncan. “These measures help address emergencies before they arise, as opposed to temporary and reactive activities that stretch a community’s capacity in an emergency.”
Last year, 16 communities participated in the program. Each community received technical investigations into their long-term flood damage risk issues at no cost.
A total of seven communities undertook mitigation projects and received funding from the FDRP. The City of Melville was one of these communities. It received $41,450 in funding from the FDRP to undertake the engineering required to initiate flood protection for the municipality.
“We are grateful to work with our provincial governing bodies as we all strive for better communities,” said Andrew Fahlman, director of public works and planning services at the City of Melville. “This support is a critical step for smaller communities like ours to look into the future for flood damage reduction and prevention.”
The FDRP is anticipated to have $700,000 available in grants this year and will accept proposals in four categories from communities both urban (cities, towns, and villages) and in rural municipalities (hamlets) as follows:
- Hydrologic and/or hydraulic investigations to develop risk assessments.
- Flood mapping projects.
- Mitigation planning, where municipalities undertake emergency planning or potential flood damage prevention construction design.
- Structural projects, where the municipality acts as the proponent for construction of permanent flood works.
The FDRP will cover eligible costs incurred up to March 31, 2020.
Once a municipality applies to the program, the proponent must have prior WSA approval and must secure any applicable regulatory requirements to undertake work. Eligible projects will be cost-shared on a 50/50 basis between the WSA and the proponent.
For more information on the program, please contact the nearest WSA regional office or visit www.wsask.ca.
