Surrey Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy

Approximately 20% of the entire Surrey land area is located in the low-lying floodplains along the Serpentine, Nicomekl and Campbell Rivers, adjacent to the ocean. In a proactive response to predicted climate change and associated impacts in the area, City of Surrey is developing the Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy (CFAS). The final strategy will identify the current and future climate change and sea level rise impacts on Surrey’s coastal floodplain, and the short, medium and long-term adaptation options available to address these impacts and increase community resiliency. Engaging the local community and other stakeholders is a key component of the project, which has been designed to be a participatory, stakeholder-driven decision process, that will increase awareness and engagement among external stakeholders, including residents, and City of Surrey staff to build understanding and capacity related to adaptation and risk perception. The final outcome of the strategy will be a set of viable coastal flood protection options to be implemented over the next decades, co-created with the stakeholders.The City of Surrey’s recognition of the importance of proactively increasing resilience to climate change is reflected in many of its documents, such as the Official Community Plan, the Sustainability Charter and the Climate Adaptation Strategy. This project will identify coastal flood adaptation options that will protect the area which is home to many Surrey residents, encompasses valuable agricultural land, is rich in significant natural areas, and provides tens of kilometers of important transportation and utility infrastructure. It is thus a high municipal priority to prepare this area for climate change and increase community resiliency by developing a Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy.