The Regional District of Nanaimo will use $10,000 from the B.C. government to conduct a study on the effect of rising sea levels on the sewage system.
The regional district’s wastewater services department was given the money from the province’s Climate Change Infrastructure Vulnerability Study funding.
Sean De Pol, regional district wastewater services manager, said the study will examine the vulnerability of infrastructure, such as sewer lines and pump stations, in low-lying areas on the coast.
“Eventually at a certain point, things will flood out, not just our pump stations, but other things. That’s what the idea of the study will be. Is there any impact? Because there are projections as to potentially what will happen over the next 100 years with sea-level rise,” De Pol said, adding the study will examine the height of the current infrastructure and the effects of what would occur if the sea level rises more than 30 centimetres.
The money won’t be received until the study is completed, De Pol said.