Community Climate Adaptation Plan for Waterloo Region

The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (RMOW) will develop a Community Climate Adaptation Plan to address risks to community health and safety, the natural and built environment as well as water quality, resulting from changing climate conditions. Climate conditions posing these risks include, but are not limited to; increased precipitation, more days above 30°C, and an increased likelihood of freezing rain. The methodology for the planning process will follow the ICLEI “Changing Climate, Changing Communities” nationally recognized adaptation framework. Additional support and structure from ICLEI will come in the form of membership to their Building Adaptive and Resilient Communities Program (BARC) which will provide assistance and tools to Regional Staff throughout the planning process. The plan will be based on extensive public engagement and will be developed through; vulnerability and risk assessments, action-setting discussions, and other aspects of ICLEI’s adaptation framework Milestones 2 and 3 that will lead to a plan that is trackable and measurable. A diverse range of stakeholders have been identified, these include representatives from member municipalities, local conservation authorities, the University of Waterloo, utility providers, agriculture groups, and aboriginal communities. In addition to incorporating public perceptions of vulnerability and risk, the Region will also convene several Expert Task Force groups, comprised of subject-matter experts and those who are most affected by identified impacts, to guide ‘deep dive’ investigations into priority impact areas as identified by the community. Effort will also be made to explore cascading effects of concurrent climate-related impacts to avoid linear action planning and produce ancillary environmental benefits.Regional Staff with help of ICLEI personnel and other technical advisers will lead the planning process. Already established core plan partners from the member municipalities will report to their respective councils and boards while Regional Staff will continue to report to Regional Council including the presentation of the final plan.The plan will complement the corporate asset management and adaptation planning efforts of the area municipalities as well as a community energy plan in development with local utilities. The plan is further supported by the Region of Waterloo Strategic Plan (2015) and will link to local GHG reduction initiatives and organizations. As the RMOW is using the established ICLEI process, there is very good potential for replication and lessons learned. This application is eligible because it aims to achieve or exceed the following objectives: Develop a plan in response to identified climate risks to reduce the likelihood of regional assets and population being impacted by climate change.