The Regional District of Nanaimo’s coastal areas are home to many residents, important services like roads and utilities, diverse and sensitive ecosystems, rich agricultural lands and some of our most scenic landscapes.
These areas are also the most vulnerable to coastal hazards such as flooding, erosion and storm events. These coastal risks can contribute to environmental and structural impacts like landslides, infrastructure and property damage, road closures, and loss of agricultural and recreational lands.
The RDN is starting a conversation about the changing coast, including current experiences and preparations for a sustainable future. The RDN invites residents to share their experiences and questions about coastal hazards through a survey until Nov. 17.
Nearly 125,000 RDN residents live near coastal areas that could be affected by coastal processes like flooding and erosion. The survey will help the RDN to learn about residents’ experiences with coastal risk, for example flooding, erosion, slope stability and sea level rise; concerns about risk; level of preparedness and attitudes toward risk; preferred ways of learning about and participating in future work on the topic.
This survey complements technical work the RDN is doing to assess risks along our coastline and understand how they might impact the region. Residents’ input will be used in the ongoing coastal risk assessment and help with plans for future work and engagement.
The RDN will share its findings in 2025 and plans to continue conversations about what the regional district and municipal partners are doing, and what residents, property owners and businesses can do to prepare and plan for successful coastal living.
For more project information, to complete the survey by Nov. 1, and to receive future updates, visit http://getinvolved.rdn.ca/coastal-risk.
