From left to right: Mayor Don Darling, MP Wayne Long, and Parliamentary Secretary Marco Mendicino announced funding for flood mitigation efforts in Saint John.
Saint John residents and businesses will receive better protection from seasonal flooding, thanks to investments in several flood mitigation projects.
The Government of Canada is contributing over $11.9 million through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund.
The work will cost almost $30 million in total, with the City of Saint John and Saint John Energy sharing the cost of the remaining 60 per cent.
Mayor Don Darling says the funding will go toward three major projects: upgrading the sea wall on the Fundy Quay, raising or replacing city pumping stations above flood levels, and moving vulnerable electrical infrastructure on the waterfront to a safer location.
“This is a big day today for the future of Saint John,” he said.
MP Wayne Long announced the funding along with Marco Mendicino, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities
Long says there’s no better time for this work to be done.
“Often I hear, ‘Where’s this money coming from or why are you doing this?’ I would argue that we can’t afford not to do this. We are facing a new reality in climate change,” he said.
Mendicino agrees.
“We no longer have the luxury of sitting idle in the face of climate change,” he said. “what we used to call a once in a hundred years or century floods are now occurring every year, every two years, and people are quite anxious.”
The city says the Fundy Quay site is it’s biggest priority right now, as it is in need of new development.
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- The city wants to raise the sea wall by 1.5 metres.
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- The sea wall is at risk of flooding with rising sea waters and changing climates.
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- The wall is also at risk of storm surges.
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- Saint John has been trying to find a developer for the sea wall slip for quite some time.
“This is a major step forward today to receive this infrastructure funding, to repair the sea wall. It takes us one giant step closer to making the site viable for a project moving forward,” said Darling.
Samir Yaminne, Manager of Energy and Assets for the City of Saint John, says the sea wall has been in bad shape for the past 20 to 25 years, and will require a lot of repairs. Namely, it will need to be raised 1.5 metres to protect from rising sea water levels and storm surges.
They will begin on a feasibility study and design study this year, and hope to have the project completed by 2020-2023, depending on the scope of work and how much detailed work is required.
“There’s a lot of work to be done on the sea wall plus on this site itself here to make it ready for development. That’s why its a high priority right now,” he said.
Darling says most importantly, these reflect projects the city’s climate adaptation needs, and he’s excited to get to work over the next few years.
“We said on May 6th that we couldn’t do this without the federal government, the provincial government, and we’re here today with the federal government in a partnership to announce major funding towards adaptation and mitigation for climate change.”
