Case Studies: Elkford B.C.

 

Elkford B.C. in winter.

In the spring of 2008, Elkford was chosen as one of two communities to partner with Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) in a year-long community learning, engagement and planning process on adapting to local climatic changes. Elkford’s interest in the initiative was a result of the District of Elkford’s desire to see implications of future climatic changes incorporated into their Official Community Plan (OCP). At the time, no other community in British Columbia had attempted to integrate climate change adaptation in their OCP. Significant time and cost efficiencies were gained through the coupling of these two processes, particularly with the organization and facilitation of community outreach.

Lessons Learned

The following bullets reflect Elkford's lessons learned about the climate change adaptation project in general. For more specific lessons and tips about particular stages of the process, please check out the "Lessons Learned" section included at the end of each stage of the process, e.g. "Get Started, "Learn about Climate Change."

  • A community can keep a broad perspective on priority climate change adaptation areas or decide to focus on one or a couple of priority areas. Elkford’s priorities focused primarily on planning and infrastructure actions; this may be a reflection of the fact that the process was integrated with an OCP revision.
  • Consult the community at important steps along the way. Do not require that they themselves develop the plan and all of its intricate details. If they want to help develop the plan, that is just icing on the cake.
  • Maintain a fine balance between creating a process that makes sense for your community and avoiding re-inventing the wheel. Make it easier on yourself by using what others have created but adapt the process sufficiently to best suit your community’s needs.
  • Focus on actions that make sense in the present and in the future; this makes it is easier to get support from the community, council, and staff.
  • Community-based discussions around climate change adaptation are an excellent way to build understanding of the impacts of climate change.
  • One of this project’s greatest assets was the significant ‘buy-in’ or support from all staff, the mayor, and many community and council members.
  • While integrating climate change adaptation (CCA) into Elkford’s OCP was highly desirable, it no doubt added complexity and cost to the project. CCA added another layer of planning to the OCP process. And, the CCA planning process’ focus on integration with the OCP allowed less time for other aspects of the project.

  • Create a simple plan that is not overly ambitious, as you will likely need twice the amount of time as anticipated. Your project will need to create a fine balance between:1) developing and implementing your plan, 2) conducting research to ensure your plan is based on sound policy and science, 3) informing and consulting your community, and 4) sharing the results of your project with CBT and learning network.

Final Report

Elkford had a number of partnerships to incorporate climate change adaptation and the OCP together:

  • Local Elk Valley consultants, Jeff Zukiwsky, Megan Walsh, and Karen Gorecki led the climate change adaptation strategy development and planning process.
  • Thinkbright Environmental Innovations acted as facilitator and local coordinator for the OCP process.
  • Smart Growth Advisory Services was the project manager, coordinated engagement and developed and wrote the policy for the OCP revision.

Case Study: Elkford (pdf 282KB)

Click here to download Elkford's complete Final Report (pdf 4MB)

Cost

The total project cost for Elkford was $31,218.

Budget Items August to November December to February March to May
Learning Network $1980 $2961 $3345
OCP/CCA work $7740 $960 $1935
CCA specific work $6300 $4977 $1020
Total Budget $16,020 $8,898 $6,300
       
In-kind Hours Additional 85 in-kind hours of consulting team

 

Time Commitment of the District

The key contact/staff member will spend approximately 10 days on the project. Additional staff and councilors will participate throughout the project for 2-4 days depending. Please note that this is in addition to the local coordinator/consultants. Below is an overview of the in-kind hours that that city staff and councillors gave during the Elkford process.

  • Learning Network (CAO) – 40 hours
  • City Planner or CAO – 40 hours
  • Director of Financial Services – 4 days
  • City Engineer or Operations Manager – 4 days
  • Mayor and some Council members – 2 days 

Elkford's Official Community Plan

OCP document report Elkford (pdf 1.3MB) This document is the Background Report and primer for Elkford’s Official Community Plan and Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. The report identifies key planning issues and options and provides examples from other communities to both educate and offer realistic alternatives for community members to consider when addressing solutions to the issues. It is an important resource because the document provides a rationale for policy directions that form the basis for policy in the OCP and Climate Change Adaptation Strategy.

Diagram: Climate Change Adaptation OCP Integration Progress (57KB) This diagram illustrates at what stages the Adaptation Plan and the OCP were integrated. It's important to note that an adaptation plan is not a stagnant document.  Implementation is challenging and the plan may require updating as new information becomes available.

Lessons from combining the CCAS and OCP:
  • Excellent forum for inserting adaptation throughout all of the District’s high level land use planning policy directions
  • As a result of the CCAS focus, the OCP process focused much more on education about why climate change adaptation was necessary than it would have done otherwise
  • Councillors, residents and District Staff are talking about climate change (adaptation and mitigation) and are willing to accept it as a reality
  • The OCP document and the OCP/CCAS processes dedicated more time to educating residents about, and justifying the need for, climate change planning than many other OCP’s in BC
  • Climate change is integrated throughout the OCP document, from the process, to the guiding principles to specific policy statements and regulation 
For more details and lessons on combining the CCAS and OCP process, click here.
For a link to Elkford's OCP website, click here.

 

Communication, Participation and Outreach Efforts

  • City newsletters
  • Workshops
  • Focus groups
  • Face to face
  • Media interviews
  • Engaging district staff
  • Presentations

 

Recommended Resources from Elkford's Climate Change Adaptation Strategy Team

 

Background

Forests and Wildfires

  • Carroll, A.L., Taylor, S.W., Regniere, J., Safranvik, L. (2004). Effects of Climate Change on Range Expansion by the Mountain Pine Beetle in British Columbia. in: Proceedings of Mountain Pine Beetle Symposium: Challenges and Solutions, October 30-31, 2003
  • District of Langford. Interface Fire Hazard Planning Model- http://www.cityoflangford.ca/documents/brochures/FireInterface_Doc.pdf Very useful; includes numerous examples of local governments across BC using legal tools to mitigate interface fires including: Development permits, subdivision and servicing bylaws, zoning bylaws, building bylaws and land title covenants.
  • Compass Resources Management. (2007). Major Impacts: Climate Change. Prepared for: The biodiversity BC technical subcommittee for the report on the status of biodiversity in BC.
  • Flannigan, M.D., Logan, K.A., Amiro, B.D., Skinner, W.R., and Stocks, B.J. 2005. Future area burned in Canada. Climatic Change 72(1-2): 1-16.
  • Flannigan, Mike (2008) - Fire and Climate Change http://firelab.forestry.utoronto.ca/research/mdf/climatechange.html
  • Hamman, A. & Wang, T. (2006). Potential effects of climate change on ecosystem and tree species distribution in British Columbia
  • NRCAN website - Assessing Past, Current, and Future Fire Occurrence and Fire Severity in British Columbia - http://fire.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/research/climate_change/activites/nat_bc_e.htm

Water and Flooding

  • Chapman (2007) Trend in April 1st Snow Water Equivalent at Long-Term British Columbia Snow Courses, in Relation to ENSO, PDO and Climate Warming.
  • Cohen, S., and T. Neale, (eds). 2006. Participatory Integrated Assessment of Water Management and Climate Change in the Okanagan Basin, British Columbia. Vancouver: Environment Canada and University of British Columbia.
  • Hall and Fagre (2003) Modeled Climate-Induced Glacier Change in Glacier National Park, 1850–2100. Bioscience. 53(2). http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/glacier_model.htm - Just look at modelled projections.

Infrastructure

  • Federation of Canadian Municipalities (2002): Final report on Federation of Canadian Municipalities municipal infrastructure risk project: adapting to climate change; report prepared for the Climate Change Action Fund, Natural Resources Canada.
  • David Suzuki Foundation (2007)- Hot Properties: How global warning could transform BC’s real estate sector- http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Publications/hot_properties.asp - interesting stuff about property/ infrastructure.

Vulnerability Assessment

Funding Options