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MUNICIPAL COUNCIL
AGENDA
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Livestreamed via YouTube at
www.youtube.com/modcvideo
Office Location: 151 King Street, Chester, NS
1. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER
2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA/ORDER OF BUSINESS
3. PUBLIC INPUT SESSION (15 minutes – 8:45 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.)
4. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
4.1 Council – November 30, 2023.
5. PROCLAMATIONS
6. COMMITTEE REPORTS
6.1 Committee of the Whole – December 7, 2023.
7. PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
8. BY-LAWS AND POLICIES
8.1 Human Resources Policy P-55 – First Notice – repeal current Personnel Policy and replace
with update Human Resources Policy.
8.2 Request for Direction prepared December 5, 2023 – Infrastructure & Operations - Water
Supply and Septic System Loan Program.
9. MATTERS ARISING
9.1 Planning Matters Report – Community Development & Recreation - Small Option
Dwellings (revised amendment).
9.2 Small Capital Grant Guidelines Update – Director of Community Development &
Recreation.
Page 2 of 2 (Agenda Pages)
9.3 Request for Direction prepared November 30, 2023 – Community Development &
Recreation – Request from Lynda Flinn to rezone PID 60094497 to facilitate commercial
agricultural use.
10. CORRESPONDENCE
10.1 Correspondence dated November 27, 2023 from Town of Oxford to the Honourable
Guilbeault regarding exemption of volunteer emergency service providers from new fuel
charges.
10.2 Correspondence dated November 21, 2023 from Luke Hansen-MacDonald regarding
zoning of former Hawboldt property along North Street/Highway 3.
11. NEW BUSINESS
11.1 Request for Decision prepared November 27, 2023 – Infrastructure & Operations (Solid
Waste) – Public Drop Off/HHW Sandblast and Painting Tender Award (MODC-T-2023-
013).
11.2 Request for Decision prepared November 23, 2023 – Community Development &
Recreation - New Road Name Assignment – Berties Way (off of Highway 14).
11.3 Request for Direction prepared November 22, 2023 – Community Development &
Recreation – Radiocommunications Facilities.
11.4 Municipal Flood Line Mapping Program – Senior Planner.
12. IN CAMERA
13. ADJOURNMENT
444
MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF CHESTER
Minutes of
COUNCIL MEETING
Held at Forest Heights Community School
847 Highway 12, Chester Grant
On Thursday, November 30, 2023
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER
Warden Webber called the meeting to order at 9:13 a.m.
Introductions around the table and Student Council.
Present: District 1 – Councillor Andre Veinotte District 2 – Deputy Warden Floyd Shatford
District 4 – Warden Allen Webber District 5 – Councillor Abdella Assaff
District 6 – Councillor Tina Connors District 7 - Councillor Sharon Church
Staff: Tara Maguire, CAO
Erin Lowe, Deputy CAO
Pamela Myra, Municipal Clerk
Emily Lennox, Executive Secretary
Matthew Blair, Director of Infrastructure & Operations
Chad Haughn, Director of Community Development and Recreation
Tim Topping, Director of Financial & Information Services
Paul Riley, Senior Planner
Jonathan Meakin, Manager, Sustainability and Asset Management
Fred Whynot, Director of Public Works
Jennifer Webber, Communications Coordinator & Outreach Coordinator
Students:
President - Charlie McInnes
Vice President – Emma Rae Connors
Secretary - Oakley Webb
Treasurer - Emily Crooks
Communications Chair - Jensen Brophy
Activities Rep - Grace Boutilier
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 445
Spirit Rep - Katie Rae Antle
Athletics Rep - Sophie Hughes
Fundraising Chair - Sam Rafuse
Art Rep - Ruah Hoeg
Grade Nine Rep - Scarlett Coolen
Director-at-Large - Amber Chakraborty
Director-at-Large - Alexa Prosser
Solicitor: Samuel Lamey, Municipal Solicitor
Public: There were 2 members of the public in the gallery.
Regrets: Councillor Derek Wells
Warden Webber noted that the meeting is not able to be livestreamed today.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA/ORDER OF BUSINESS
Addition/Change:
Recreation & Parks Committee – Councillor Veinotte.
South Shore Public Library, District 6 Council Grant, Out and About in My District –
Councillor Connors.
In Camera 12.1 removed and an addition of Personnel and Contract Negotiations –
Warden Webber.
2023-494 MOVED by Councillor Church, SECONDED by Councillor Assaff the agenda and
order of business for the November 30, 2023, Council meeting be approved as
amended. ALL IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED.
PUBLIC INPUT
Terry Gallagher, Secretary Treasurer of the Lakewood Drive Community Road Association wished
to speak in favour of item 11.5 on the agenda – the collection of road funds through the by-law.
He indicated that if there were any questions, he would be available to answer them. He
thanked Council for the by-law, a great opportunity for residents to come to an agreement
through a defined process and thanked staff who have been great helping them through the
process.
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 446
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
4.1 Council – November 16, 2023.
2023-495 MOVED by Deputy Warden Shatford, SECONDED by Councillor Church that the
minutes of the November 16, 2023, Council Meeting be approved as circulated. ALL
IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED.
PROCLAMATIONS
There were no proclamations for review.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
6.1 Nominating Committee – November 16, 2023 – Councillor Veinotte.
2023-496 MOVED by Councillor Veinotte, SECONDED by Councillor Assaff that the
recommendations from the November 16, 2023 meeting of the Nominating
Committee be approved as follows:
2023-492 – “… reappoint members of Council to the Committees/Boards as provided on
November 16, 2023 with one change to appoint Councillor Veinotte to the Equity,
Diversity, & Inclusion Committee in Councillor Assaff’s resignation from the Committee.
COMMITTEE/ORGANIZATION PUBLIC TERM MEMBER
Audit Committee 2 Years for Public
Appointments
All members of Council
Sandra Dumaresq
Heather McLeod
Building Code & Unsightly
Premises Committee
N/A Councillor Connors
Deputy Warden Shatford
Chester Municipal Planning
Advisory Committee
2 Years for Public
Appointments
District 1 – Leslie Taylor
District 2 – VACANT
District 3 – Hugh Harper
District 4 – Lee Harnish
District 5 – Nicholas Buckle
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 447
COMMITTEE/ORGANIZATION PUBLIC TERM MEMBER
District 6 – Margeson Reeves
District 7 – Hassen Hammond
Chair of Chester Village Planning
Advisory Committee
Councillor Church
Councillor Assaff
Chester Village Planning
Advisory Committee
2 Years for Public
Appointments
Carol Nauss
Sara Filbee
Sydney Dumaresq
VACANT
Chair of Chester Municipal
Planning Advisory Committee
Village Commission – Nancy
Hatch
Councillor Wells
Chester Volunteer Fire
Service Committee
Two 3-Year Terms
and One 2-Year
Term
Kirk Collicutt (3 Years)
Norman Countway (3 Years)
James Robert (2 Years)
Committee of the Whole N/A All members of Council
Equity, Diversity, and
Inclusion Advisory
Committee
2-Year and
3-Year Terms
Lorraine Burch – 3 Year Term
David Broome – 3 Year Term
Joud Alouch – 2 Year Term
Robert Young – 3 Year Term
Charlie McInnes - 3 Year Term
Carol Millett – 3 Year Term
Councillor Assaff
Councillor Veinotte
Council Connors
Heritage Advisory Committee 1 Year Carol Nauss
Tim Harris
Barry Redmond
Bunch Fraser
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 448
COMMITTEE/ORGANIZATION PUBLIC TERM MEMBER
Brenda Mulrooney
Chester Municipal Heritage
Society - Vacant
Chester Municipal Heritage
Society – Vacant
Deputy Warden Shatford
Councillor Assaff
Landfill Citizens Monitoring
Committee
2 Years for Public
Appointments
Brad Armstrong
Herbert Fraser
VACANT
Robert Mitchell
Councillor Church
Councillor Veinotte
Landfill Consultation
Committee
N/A Warden Webber
RCMP Advisory Board
2 Years for Public
Appointments
Arthur Vardjas
Terri DeMont
Beverly Armstrong
Warden Webber
Councillor Connors
Deputy Warden Shatford
Provincial Appointment
Recreation & Parks
Committee
3 Years for Public
Appointments
(No more than 2
consecutive
terms)
District 1 – VACANT
District 2 – Suzanne Brown
2nd Term
District 3 – Brad Armstrong
2nd Term
District 4 - VACANT
District 5 – Ross Shatford
1st Term
District 6 – Patricia Bates
1st Term
District 7 – Kevin Marczak
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 449
COMMITTEE/ORGANIZATION PUBLIC TERM MEMBER
1st Term
Councillor Church
Alternate – Councillor Wells
Sherbrooke Lake Park
Advisory Committee (2017-
529/540)
3 Years for Public
Appointments
Hugh Harper
Heather Dyment
Councillor Connors
Water Quality Monitoring
Committee
2 Years Aspotogan Heritage Trust – Kathy
Gamache
Municipal PAC Appointment –
Ross Shatford
Fox Point Lake Owners
Association – John McNeil
Aspotogan Developments – Ged
Stonehouse
Technical Consultant – Amina
Stoddard
Deputy Warden Shatford
Church Memorial Park
Trustees
1 Year Councillor Church
Community Use of Schools –
ACES
1 Year Councillor Connors
Warden Webber
Deputy Warden Shatford
Community Use of Schools –
FHCS
1 Year Councillor Connors
Warden Webber
Councillor Assaff
Fences and Arbitration
Committee
1 Year By-Law Enforcement Officer
Deputy CAO
Alternate: CAO
1 Year Councillor Assaff
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 450
COMMITTEE/ORGANIZATION PUBLIC TERM MEMBER
Lunenburg County
Accessibility Advisory
Committee
Alternate: Councillor Wells
Lunenburg County Seniors’
Safety Program
1 Year Councillor Connors
Region 6 Solid Waste
Management Committee
1 Year Councillor Veinotte
Regional Emergency
Measures (REMO)
1 Year Warden
Deputy Warden
CAO/Deputy CAO
Alternate: Councillor Wells
South Shore Housing Action
Coalition
1 Year Councillor Assaff
South Shore Regional Library
Board
1 Year Councillor Connors
Southwest Regional
Community Advisory Board
(formerly Flight Engineering)
1 Year Councillor Wells
Western Regional Crown
Land Stakeholder Interaction
Committee
1 Year Councillor Veinotte
Zoe Valle Library Municipal
Trustee
1 Year Councillor Wells
ALL IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED.
6.2 South Shore Regional Library – Councillor Connors.
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 451
Councillor Connors reported on the board meetings, review of the lease at the LCLC, the EDI
Committee, and the old bookmobile which now has to be retired as it is no longer fixable.
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
7.1 9:30 a.m. Grace Brittain and Charlie McInnes – Safe Grad 2024 Donation Request.
Ms. Brittain and Mr. McInnes outlined what will take place at the safe grad event, the final event
for them to spend time together in a safe environment. The funding will provide a cost efficient
mode of transportation as well as reducing additional CO2 gasses by using one vehicle (a bus)
which will alleviate the stress of finding someone to deliver and pick up the graduates.
2023-497 MOVED by Councillor Assaff, SECONDED by Deputy Warden Shatford that Council
grant $600 to the Forest Heights Safe Grad for the 2023/24 Graduating Class.
DISCUSSION:
Deputy Warden indicated that he has funds remaining in his District Grant fund if the
graduating class is short on funds.
ALL IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED.
BY-LAWS AND POLICIES
There were no by-laws or policies for review.
MATTERS ARISING
9.1 Quarterly Update – Infrastructure & Operations Department.
Present was Matthew Blair, Director of Infrastructure & Operations, who reviewed the
information provided in the slides which included:
Solid Waste Statistics
Solid Waste Administration
Programs – Water Supply Lending Program, Clean Energy Financing Programs,
Community Solar Program
Asset Management
Public Works / Village of Chester
Public Works Roads (RRFBs, Speed Radar Signs, J Class Roads)
Public Works Wastewater
Public Works Buildings and Structures
Public Works – Administration Staff
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 452
CORRESPONDENCE
10.1 Correspondence dated November 9, 2023 from Municipality of the District of Lunenburg
regarding the 2023/24 REMO Budget Variance Update.
The CAO outlined what the role of REMO was for the students.
2023-498 MOVED by Deputy Warden Shatford, SECONDED by Councillor Church that Council
approve the request of the Regional Emergency Management Committee to approve
an additional $20,200 for the 2023/24 budget in accordance with Section 20 of the
Inter-Municipal Agreement with the Municipality of Chester’s share at $6,080. ALL
IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED.
10.2 Email from John MacDonald regarding continued concerns about Bayswater Beach and
requesting Council to write a letter to the province requesting a moratorium on restocking
of the Saddle Island site in Bayswater.
Councillor Veinotte reminded Council that Mr. MacDonald and other residents have been before
Council several times regarding this issue. The issue has been ongoing for several years and a
study was conducted several years ago, however, the residents don’t feel it was a fulsome
investigation. The residents feel that the organic material is the result of the fish farm. The
residents are requesting a moratorium on stocking this fish farm. The Municipality doesn’t have
the ability to do that realistically because we can’t say that is the cause, but we have an MLA
who has stated that she was opposed to aquaculture and fish farming. He would like Council to
correspond with her and ask her to respond publicly to these concerns. We are continually
getting these concerns and we don’t have the authority to deal with it; but her government
does. It was also noted that two of the pens are outside of the lease area.
Mr. MacDonald provided some background on the matter as well as information on the depth
and redistribution of material on the bottom.
Discussion was held with regard to the matter, and it was agreed that a letter be prepared to
send to the MLA outlining the concerns of the residents. The province has scientists. We have
the public that fund our government. The beach didn’t stink before and now it stinks. If it is not
coming from the fish farm, where is it coming from.
Councillor Veinotte attended an aquaculture meeting at District 1 Community Centre – there
were four candidates who spoke and three spoke against aquaculture while the fourth said they
would have to work with them. The MLA was there, and a discussion was held about
aquaculture, and she was opposed to it. She is now in a position of influence – he wants to hear
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 453
from this representative on what is going on – what is it and where is it coming from. We are
getting complaints.
Staff will prepare a letter to come back to Council prior to being sent out.
NEW BUSINESS
11.1 District 3 Council Grant – Chester Merchants.
2023-499 MOVED by Councillor Connors, SECONDED by Councillor Assaff that Council approve
a District 3 Council Grant for the Chester Merchants in the amount of $500.00. ALL
IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED.
District 6 Council Grant – Handy Hands 4H Club - $500.
2023-500 MOVED by Councillor Connors, SECONDED by Councillor Assaff that Council approve
a District 6 Council Grant for the Handy Hands 4H Club in the amount of $500.00.
ALL IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED.
A break was held from 10:30 a.m. to 10:44 a.m.
11.2 Discussion - Stop signs on private roads – Deputy Warden Shatford.
Deputy Warden Shatford noted that a couple of months ago there was a fatal accident where a
4-wheeler coming off of a private road onto the main road was struck by a car. One person died
and another was sent to hospital. He took a drive around the community and there are a
number of roads with multiple roads off of them as well as private homes that do not have stop
signs.
It was not raised with the NS Department of Public Works, but he did speak with the RCMP who
felt it was a good idea. We will likely need to talk to NS Department of Public Works as there
may be an issue with putting up signage in the highway right of way.
Members of Council felt it was worth exploring and it was noted that there are also subdivisions
with a number of houses within. It was suggested that something could be added to the
Subdivision By-Law that would require stop signs. The Municipality may be able to implement
something from a development standpoint going forward, but that does not deal with the roads
currently in place without stop signs.
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 454
Discussion took place on ways to have current roads retrofitted with stop signs and some
suggestions were to put money aside and have the Municipal Public Works Department
investigate. There are many roads that do not have associations in place to deal with a request.
Councillor Connors agreed and referred to the snowmobile trail signs that advise snowmobiles
that there is a road ahead. There are also signs that warn there are road gates ahead. She
suggested something along the line of that type of signage. She also suggested exploring a
grant as an opportunity – community development or active transportation.
Staff was directed to review and provide some options, i.e., legalities, including with the
subdivision by-law, homeowners’ associations, etc.
The Solicitor commented that there would typically be a traffic authority with standards. If it
was to be a municipal program would we require a standard sign like we do for road names.
The authority would be the problem if were no association.
11.3 Request for Decision prepared November 23, 2023 – Community Development &
Recreation – Capital Grants Review.
Chad Haughn, Director of Community Development and Recreation provided an update on the
Capital Grants Review as requested. There was conversation regarding major and small capital
grants. The deadline for these grants is January 31st so if there are changes to be made, they
need to be done now.
Presently there is a budget of $250,000 for major capital grants and $25,000 for small capital
grants.
There was discussion regarding: the types of applications received previously that don’t fit the
criteria and there was a suggestion to change the small capital grant amount from $10,000 to
something larger, medium capital grant was not an option included, community centres with
large projects, agreement that large capital grants are for innovation and building capacity
(something new to contribute to the municipality and enhance the quality of life for residents –
not for maintenance), community spaces need assistance, consideration to expand small capital
grant up to $30,000, the amount of funding to community groups in this municipality is high,
key infrastructure owned by the public that has a meaningful impact on the community, issue of
raising funds, volunteer capacity, aging infrastructure, funding from other levels of government,
community facilities for public uses, REMO uses, ability of fire departments to raise funds
through taxes, etc.
The Director of Community Development & Recreation indicated that staff know facilities that
exist and can develop a list that provides those core services. Councillor Veinotte commented
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 455
that if we make a list and other infrastructure comes online, we have to be prepared to amend
that list.
Warden Webber noted that if we double it, it is more than what they have now. What impact
would that have?
The Director of Community Development and Recreation noted that he is unsure how many
applications we might receive but could look at the average revenue of this year and ensure we
are not dipping into the reserve.
Councillor Veinotte noted that Council has to be prepared to make tough decisions. $30,000 is
a good number as long as they have a demonstrated need.
The Small Capital Budget is presently $25,000 and that could be increased to $50,000.
Councillor Connors noted that some community facilities not owned by the committee do in
fact provide space for community use (New Ross Community School). The old tennis
courts/basketball courts is space that is publicly owned so therefore if looking for funds it would
make that project ineligible. She noted concern that there is no money through the school
board or province. She wanted to know what everyone thought about that. It would open the
process to all, and Councillor Connors felt that would be a wonderful problem.
Councillor Veinotte noted that the priorities are those of the municipality – if a recreational
pickleball court is needed then they should be talking to those who provide recreation grants.
This is for key infrastructure projects. He didn’t imagine it would be pickle ball courts. Maybe
the $10,000 but when want to access higher amounts it would be for facilities.
Deputy Warden Shatford asked if Council was going to consider Councillor Connors’ request –
no.
It was noted that buildings with fire departments have the ability to tax.
Staff will come back with maximum limit and potential tweaks to the criteria with
implementation for this year.
11.4 Request for Decision prepared November 24, 2023 – Infrastructure & Operations -
Municipal Capital Growth Program Grant (Wastewater Strategy).
2023-501 MOVED by Councillor Assaff, SECONDED by Deputy Warden Shatford that the
Municipality of the District of Chester submit the project titled Chester Basin
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 456
Wastewater System Expansion and Climate Change Adaptation Project for funding
to the 2023-24 Municipal Capital Growth Program (MCGP); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT Council supports the project and commits to
provide its share of at least 50% or $2,228,470 (net HST) of the estimated $4,456,940
(net HST) total eligible project cost.
DISCUSSION:
Deputy Warden noted that Councillor Wells, who was not able to be present today,
was not in favour of adding a second project to the funding request.
Councillor Veinotte noted that the province has allocated $32 Million for all
infrastructure projects in support of housing initiatives, and we are one of 52
municipalities. We could put more projects in the hopper, but we will be lucky to get a
few hundred thousand dollars. The purpose is to put a sewer system in the hamlet of
Chester Basin – this will change Chester Basin and it could look very different in 20
years. If houses are not on a central system, there can only allow so much density and
the current wastewater treatment plant is nearly under water.
ALL IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED.
11.5 Request for Decision prepared November 22, 2023 – Community Development &
Recreation and Finance – Private Street Maintenance Petition – Lakewood Drive
Community Road Association.
2023-502 MOVED by Councillor Veinotte, SECONDED by Councillor Assaff that Council accept
the Lakewood Drive Community Road Association petition package for private street
improvement and direct finance staff to implement a special tax for the affected
accounts to take effect in the upcoming fiscal year. ALL IN FAVOUR. MOTION
CARRIED.
11.6 Southwest Nova Scotia Bioeconomy Development Opportunity Zone Rating.
Erin Lowe, Deputy CAO outlined the project that was brought forward a year ago. The NS
Innovation Hub are leading it to support bio-economy in the province – forestry, seafood, etc. It
takes the waste and turns it into new products that are more sustainable.
Innovation hub is leading but has support from this Municipality, the Municipality of the District
of Lunenburg, the Region of Queens, and the Town of Bridgewater for low grade woody
biomass. There is a certification process. She noted that we have received an A rating. The next
step is promoting that. The rating remains in place for two years. There will be a press release
issued and promotion will start with the new Senior EDO.
11.7 Small Option Dwellings – Paul Riley, Planner.
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 457
Present was Paul Riley, Planner who outlined the changes in the statement of provincial interest
regarding housing in the MGA and that directs our decision on policy and regulations for
planning.
Small option dwellings are a type of housing for 3-4 residents with disabilities and they receive
support from staff through the provincial program. The province has said that municipal
policies and regulations can’t impose strict regulations on a house or apartment. Staff is
proposing amendments to Municipal Land Use By-Law and the Village of Chester Land Use By-
Law (currently being amended through the review process).
There was discussion regarding the specification of the number of residents and it was in the
provincial statement to limit the number of people to make it more like a home environment.
It was suggested to have the municipal definition just refer to the provincial definition – then
our number would change with theirs; otherwise, our numbers could go out of date.
It was also noted that the issue is they may have a threshold for 4 as over that would be an
institutional use.
2023-503 MOVED by Councillor Assaff, SECONDED by Councillor Church that Council give First
Reading to the draft amendments, attached as Appendix A to the Planners Report
prepared November 22, 2023 “Small Option Dwellings” to add a definition and
general provision for small option dwellings to the Municipal Land Use By-law and
schedule a Public Hearing for Thursday January 14th, 2024 at 8:45 am in Municipal
Council Chambers. ALL IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED.
11.7 Recreation and Parks – Councillor Veinotte.
Councillor Veinotte felt that the term Recreation & Parks needs to be changed in order to reflect
what is being done. Recreation is a service we provide that is not mandated in the MGA; there is
no legal requirement to provide it. We are doing an ok job of including art stuff and other
activities, but it all falls under branding of recreation which isn’t appropriate.
He indicated that he felt the Municipality should have a Department of Arts, Culture, and
Recreation – it is deeper than recreation. He is looking for Council’s support about the
Recreation Department and how it operates as he feels that it is becoming more sophisticated.
We don’t have a category for arts and culture. Staff does the best they can to support the arts
but it is not referenced in the title and we need to fund it appropriately. We have a Heritage
Committee – if want to volunteer property to become a heritage property. A lot of arts,
heritage, history – could be put together and done more holistically. Has been thinking about it
for a couple of years.
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 458
He also noted that the funding has been held at $25,000 for a long time and now we are
spreading it over things that are more than just physical activity.
Erin Lowe, Deputy CAO noted that the Arts and Culture Strategy will look at community interest
and needs and how we can change as an organization. We have hired a consultant, and they
are waiting for the Community Economic Development Officer to start (December 11).
The CAO also noted that part of that strategy will look at policy, grant programs, funding for art
culture recreation and what organizational changes would support that.
The Director of Community Development and Recreation noted that he would be more than
open to having conversation – some people immediately think of sports but that is far from the
definition the Municipality has for recreation. He is willing to provide a workshop on what staff
is currently doing and the definition of recreation.
11.8 Out and About in My District – Councillor Connors.
Councillor Connors reported on a visit from a group of 40 students from Park View – interested
in Christmas treeing and the community – they met at Hughes Tree Yard (commercial/industrial).
There were presentations and discussions around sorting, baling, loading, etc. at the working
tree yard. The Christmas Tree Council of NS was also there. The second stop around the
Christmas Tree industry – at the top of Porcupine Hill on the Murphy Property – a familiar
community trail as well that has the most recent addition of Twig’s Chalet. It was all focused
around the marrying up, cooperation, and working together of a private landowner – working in
the family Christmas trees – shearing, pruning, operating in the fall and opening a community
trail on that property.
IN CAMERA
12.1 In Camera as per Section 22(2)(a) of the Municipal Government Act – acquisition, sale,
lease, and security of municipal property.
Warden Webber explained In Camera meetings to Student Council.
2023-504 MOVED by Deputy Warden Shatford, SECONDED by Councillor Church that Council
Convene “In Camera” as per Section 22(2)(g) Legal Advice and Section 22(2)(c)
Personnel. ALL IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED.
ADJOURNMENT
Council (continued) November 30, 2023 459
2023-505 MOVED by Councillor Church, SECONDED by Councillor Assaff that the meeting
adjourn. ALL IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED. (12:17 p.m.)
_________________________ _________________________
Allen Webber Pamela Myra
Warden Municipal Clerk
NOTE:
The minutes are a record of decisions made at meetings. For more details on discussions,
a recording of the minutes can be viewed at: www.youtube.com/modcvideo.
MOTIONS FROM DECEMBER 7, 2023 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE FOR APPROVAL BY COUNCIL
2023-506 APPROVAL OF AGENDA/ORDER OF BUSINESS
2023-507 APPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER 7, 2023 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES
2023-508 SOLAR GARDEN PROJECT – APPLICATION
MOVED by Councillor Veinotte, SECONDED by Deputy Warden Shatford that the Committee
of the Whole recommend to Council to proceed in the application process in a potential
partnership with Solarbank for a Community Solar Garden Project at Kaizer Meadow
Environmental Centre. ALL IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED.
2023-509 HUMAN RESOURCES POLICY; STAFF REPORTS ON COUNCIL
REMUNERATION; OPTIONS FOR CALL OUTS
MOVED by Councillor Assaff, SECONDED by Deputy Warden Shatford that the Committee of the
Whole recommend to Council to:
Give Notice of Intention to repeal Policy P-55 Personnel Policy and replace it with the
proposed Human Resources Policy.
Direct staff to prepare a staff report and provide options on Council remuneration.
Direct staff to prepare a report on options for call out/on call time.
ALL IN FAVOUR. MOTION CARRIED.
2023-510 REQUEST FOR REPORT ON FOUR-DAY WORK WEEK
MOVED by Deputy Warden Shatford, SECONDED by Councillor Connors that the Committee of
the Whole recommend to Council to direct staff to investigate the possibility of a four-day
(compressed hours) work week, compiling information from other municipalities as well as staff,
and options of what a four-day work week would look like. FIVE IN FAVOUR. ONE OPPOSED.
MOTION CARRIED.
2023-511 ADJOURNMENT
Lunenburg County Seniors’ Safety Program
Monthly Report –November 2023
prepared: December 05, 2023
The LCSSP is a free confidential community-based non-profit service that works
collaboratively with BPS, RCMP, and many community partners to help address the safety
concerns of older adults (55 years of age+), residing in Lunenburg County. Service is provided
through awareness campaigns, advocacy, community outreach projects, educational
programs, community presentations and one to one service.
LCSSP November highlights:
• Work continues with the research and development of Seniors’ Mental Wellness
toolkit. PowerPoint completed and brochure in last phases of development.
Additional tools include Lazy 8 breathing and Circle of Supports. Rack Card to be
developed.
• A new Canada wide service for suicide prevention launched this month. Canada's
988 hotline, which gives people access to suicide prevention services via call or
text, is now available in all provinces and territories 24/7.
• Seniors’ Safety Academy Oct 12 -Nov 16/2023 at the OHC in Chester. Completed.
Thank you to all the Presenters for sharing their knowledge and time with us and
the Our Health Centre for being such gracious hosts. Looking forward to holding
another Academy in the spring with an option to have a mini (3 week) series
through the winter.
• November 24th presentation to staff at the OHC in Chester on Elder Abuse and
Adult Protection overview.
• Collaborative Home Visits in November with Continuing Care Coordinator, BPS,
RCMP and Western Housing Authority.
• Collaborative client specific meetings Western Housing Authority, SSRH/NSHA,
and SSODA.
Hard to believe we are drawing closer to the season… Secret Santa for Seniors
preparations are in the works, looking forward to spreading some “Christmas Cheer”.
Lunenburg County Seniors’ Safety Program
Monthly Report –November 2023
prepared: December 05, 2023
Referrals:
New Referrals: 11 Re Referrals: 0 Home/site Visits: 22 Active clients: 63
Closed files: 11
New Referrals Service Area in
Municipal Units (#’s have been
rounded either up/down)
%
MODC 45%
MODL 27%
Mahone Bay .5 %
Lunenburg .5 %
Bridgewater 27%
Referral Source:
Community Partner 10% Self/Family 20 % RCMP 45% BSP 25%
Areas of concern: Seniors’ Mental Health/Addictions, Safe Housing, Fraud/Scams, Elder
Abuse, Community resources/connections, Health Care (no primary care physician).
LCSSP Client Emergency Contingency Fund (CECF):
The CECF continues to serve the community in partnership with other organizations to
help mitigate risk for seniors experiencing financial hardship. The November 30, 2023
float count balance is: $1,958.07. $50 client phone top up and transportation support,
$100 copay with St. Vincent de Paul for client overdue bill, $43.54 Rodent repellent and
$145 small home repair for client, $28.50 for client phone card to access services, $75
Motorized chair service call.
‘Thank you to all Lunenburg County Seniors’ Safety Program supporters.
We couldn’t do what we do without you.’
HUMAN RESOURCE POLICY
BACKGROUND
•Gerald Walsh & Associates were contracted to undertake a review of the HR policies
•Conducted a round of focus groups with staff to solicit feedback on changes and updates that
staff would like to have considered
•Several rounds of drafts were provided and reviewed by the management team and council
•Updates to the Salary scales and benefits have already taken place
•Policy also has a corresponding set of Operational procedures and forms
•Together they form the employee handbook
•Procedures and forms can be amended without Council approval, provided they are consistent with the
policies approved by council
•Staff have reviewed a draft of the handbook and provided feedback
•Revisions have been made with recommended changes
•Revisions and feedback is provided for council consideration and Notice of Repeal and Replace
GOALS
•Policies are reflective of diversity, equity and inclusion principles
•Accessible, clearly written and easily interpreted policies
•Reflect modern HR policies
•Policies that support flexible work arrangements and with a goal of attracting and retaining
employees
•Policies position the Municipality to be an Employer of Choice.
GENERAL UPDATES
•Entire document reorganized
•Used plain language
•Aligned policies and procedures
•Reformatted document to make it easier to navigate
SECTION 1 POLICY ADMINISTRATION
1.1 Policy Manual & Administration
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 1
•Suggestion to include requirements for the documents to be updated regularly
•Intent is that policy reviewed as needed with regular updates
•4.1 updated to require salary review every 5 years
•More clarity needed on role of HR designate
•Added clarification on roles and responsibilities
•Clarified that HR designate advises management and staff
•All employees are able to go to HR with concerns or questions
SECTION 2 GENERAL POLICIES
•2.1 Standards of Conduct/Conflict of Interest
•2.2 Working Hours
•2.3 Employment Status
•2.4 Job Descriptions
•2.5 Personnel Records
•2.6 Human Resource Planning
•2.7 Job Classification
•2.8 Dress Code and Appearance
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 2
•Add policy to clarify when MOC will cover staff legal fees
•Our insurance will cover general liability claims, errors & omissions claims, automotive claims, and
environmental liability claims, so long as staff are performing their duties for, or in association with,
MODC, with the only specific exception being for cases of sexual misconduct. This has been confirmed
with the insurer.
•Clarify who the policies apply to (i.e.,all staff, non-supervisors etc.)
•Unless otherwise clarified, the word employee refers to all employees including department heads,
managers, directors, and CAO.
•Concern that staff can not publicly criticize decisions or council etc.
•This is fairly standard language, can not disparage your employer in a public manner (i.e.via social
media)
•Policies around gifts needs review and clarification
•Policies changed to mirror existing policies, no individual gifts above $25, no need to record gifts under
that amount.
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 2
•Consider adding an option for a four-day work week in flexible time options
•This has been discussed with the executive management team and with Council, due to operational
concerns, this is not being considered at this time.
•Add policies to address responding to email etc. after hours
•Right to Disconnect Policy added to Section 8.4
•No succession planning occurs in some departments
•Succession planning will be occurring for all departments, as the need arises
•We have never had a formalized succession planning policy, it has been ad hoc
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 2
•Clarify that job descriptions are reviewed during performance review
•This is already included in the procedures
•Concern that solid waste does not have adequate coverage
•This is operational and will be discussed at management level
•Concern that policy for 35 hours does not apply at landfill and the wage disparity should be
addressed
•Landfill will change to 35-hour work week to address disparity and additional hours will be overtime
•Vacant jobs should have job descriptions reviewed
•Vacant jobs are, and will continue to be, reviewed so that the operational needs are considered, and
reclassifications occur as necessary. This is already our current practice.
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 2
•Concerns about the adequacy of the criteria for job classification to capture issues such as
liability, judgment, decision making, conflict exposure etc.
•These factors are considered in the job classification tool.
•The criteria in the policy are high level, the tool used goes into further detail for each criteria with
numerous factors being rated and weighted
•The scoring is done by a consistent team, and is designed to ensure consistency across the
organization
•If an employee feels that they have been misplaced on the scale, they can ask for a review
•Due to the complexity and consistency required across all departments and positions, we are unable to
provide a detailed breakdown of each position's score without disclosing confidential information or
compromising the integrity of our evaluation process.
•Clarification in dress code that roles are taken into account
•Removed examples and added that dress should be appropriate for duties being performed, still must be
presentable as representative of the municipality
SECTION 3 EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND RESPECTFUL WORKPLACE
3.1 Accommodation
3.2 Equity and Diversity
3.3 Respectful Workplace
3.4 Dispute & Complaint Resolution
3.5 Corrective Action
3.6 Public Interest Complaints
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 3
•Broaden what is considered as a protected category for accommodations
•Policy includes all things covered under Human Rights Act
•Clarify accommodations “Generally in place….”
•Removed generally and indicated the accommodations are temporary in nature. We will work with health
care professionals as necessary to determine accommodations
•Address bullying and intimidation from the public as well as internally
•Policy on harassment by the public erroneously only referred to sexual harassment, this was an
oversight, it should simply read harassment
•We do not tolerate intimidation or threats from the public, staff are able to end a conversation and set up
a time to deal with the matter at a later date, this will be clarified by management
•Added language to include violence by or towards public/employees
•There should be ability to request accommodations in interviews
•This is possible, it is covered in Section 7
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 3
•Workplace violence should include mental safety
•This is included in the harassment section
•Violence may include bullying, intimidation, and harassment.
•Violence prevention plan changed to include “physical or otherwise”
•Can staff make a complaint to HR designate?
•Yes, this is possible, it is included in the procedures for complaints
•Complaints should be investigated by a third party
•CAO has the ability to determine when an outside facilitator is necessary
•For workplace bullying, add clarity that intention does not matter
•Changed language to “inappropriate behavior”
•Corrective action does not address ongoing or subsequent offences
•Policy is progressive, in the chart for offenses “z” can mean anything up-to and including termination, and
progressive discipline is referenced in the policy
•It’s important to clarify that the information staff are required to give regarding an
accommodation is not necessarily diagnoses, etc., but rather what it is about their abilities that
makes an accommodation necessary.
•This change has been made
•Added the following to Confidentiality: “We do not ask for any information on the diagnosis, but rather,
what about the employee’s ability makes an accommodation necessary.“
•Forms also need to be updated in some cases
•This has been done.
•Update the definition of systemic barrier
•This has been done
SECTION 4 COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
•4.1 Salary Administration
•4.2 Group Health Benefits and Pension Plan
•4.3 Employee and Family Assistance Program
•4.4 Flexible Work
•4.5 Vacations
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 4
•Concerns on benefits, group benefits should be optional, changes requested by staff should be
part of negations with carrier
•This is determined by the carrier; they stipulate that they are mandatory unless proof of additional
coverage is provided
•We are in a group plan, through NSFM, HR passes suggestions to NSFM
•Benefits should be extended to council
•This is a policy decision for council
•Service award is taxable, should be increased
•Staff are provided a gift card, which, provided it meets CRA conditions, is no longer taxable
•Awards were increased from existing policy
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 4
•Should be an option for retirees to continue medical and dental
•This is currently an option. Eligibility is determined by the provider
•Employees should be able to choose from multiple flexible work options
•There was an understanding that our current process of trying to allow flexibility created inequities where
some positions could take advantage of various flexible options (unofficially) while others couldn’t.
•While some positions could feasibly take advantage of all three without impacting service delivery, others
in the organization are more limited and may only have one option or no options.
•To try to keep the options as fair and equitable as possible, for ease of scheduling, and to ensure
operational coverage, limiting to one option allows the fairest approach across the organization.
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 4
•Flexible options should be available to reception
•All employees will be eligible to participate in flexible options provided that operational needs are met
•Front line staff and those that need to be onsite will not be eligible for work from home, on a regular
basis, however allowances will be made for emergency or one-off situations provided coverage of the
office is addressed
•Flex work should allow for some accommodation to work from home for childcare
•Emergencies do happen and as an employer we do work with staff to accommodate. This is not
expected to change.
•We understand that on occasion employees need to address personal issues during work hours. The
expectation and intent is that if you are in a structured agreement where you work remotely on a
schedule, you should have a plan for day care etc.
•Managers will work with staff to accommodate one off situations; it should not be a normal occurrence.
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 4
•EDO days work best is when the day you are off is set in the schedule and there is no swapping,
delaying, or moving it. Either it is taken, or it is lost, and the cycle of 14 days starts anew, the
exception being paid holidays. Allows all to plan any vacation times, work schedules and needs
of the department around a structured stable expectation.
•An EDO is essentially the same as banked OT taken on a regular schedule. We would be obligated to
allow the time to be taken if the hours were worked.
•We intend it to be on a set day, and if a day is missed then the employee would need to work with
manager to determine a day that it can be made up.
•Concern with Flexible work options not being fair to all employees, those that cannot work from
home shoulder additional burden and public get frustrated when staff are not in the office to
address questions
•Departments will need to work together to ensure operational needs are met, this new policy has three
flex work options which aims to create a more level playing field
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 4
•Flexible Work, Vacation Entitlements -was a survey of other municipalities carried out in
creating these thresholds?
•This work was done by the consultant, they reviewed other municipalities and have done extensive work
with other units
•Staff also collected information on neighboring units
•Vacation entitlements are based on market conditions and comparisons to other units.
•Our old policy, the dept head could approve a carryover up to a certain amount. Now it is all to
the CAO, seems needlessly taxing on one person.
•Current policy department head could approve carryover up to 35 hours and then CAO approval over 35
hours. Proposed policy automatically carries over 35 hours and then CAO approval is required over 35
hours
•Anything over 35 hours will now be paid out automatically unless the CAO approves a carryover.
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 4
•Why are we continuing with the final vacation dates by May…in all the years I have
been here this has never happened. Why keep something we are not doing.
•Department heads need to be able to plan vacation schedules to ensure coverage. Staff submit initial
request in March, department heads review, and it should be finalized in May.
•We do allow changes when they can be accommodated, but in the case of a conflict, the official schedule
is the one approved in May.
•We believe this is more important now with flex time option and ability to schedule for operational needs
•Some staff would like to see additional vacation time, especially for longer term employees.
Others were happy to see vacation accumulations starting earlier than current policy
•No suggested changes are being recommended, the current maximum is 5 weeks, staff will now be
entitled to 6 weeks and vacation time will be earned quicker than current policy.
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 4
•Is there a requirement that if you request an extended vacation 3-4 weeks at a time special
approval is required?
•Anything over two weeks requires approval of department head or CAO (per procedures)
•The paragraph on paid time can only be used to a maximum of 7 hrs. conflicts with your policy
on EDO and a person able to use other banked times to make up the missing half hr. If I am at a
medical appointment for an hr. and I work an hr. to make up for it…am I recording the medical
appointment as an hr. sick leave but then only 6 hrs. of regular time even though I worked 7?
•In this example you would book 7 hours of regular time with no sick time. Sessions will be held for staff to
explain the policy .
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 4
•Comment made regarding liability when working from home, needed clarification
•Added conditions in Policy 4.4 under liability when Municipality is not liable
•In Employee Assistance Program can we change language to be more inclusive “The
Municipality of the District of Chester understands that everyone occasionally experiences
problems that are unmanageable without help.”
•This change has been made
SECTION 5 LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
•5.1 Performance Reviews
•5.2 Professional Development
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 5
•Clarification needed on when CAO can approve additional steps, can it go beyond salary band
•CAO can approve up to 2 steps per year for exceptional performance but can not approve steps beyond
the level for the position without council approval.
•Not to exceed set pay scale without Council approval
•There should be options for paid time/banked time for travel to professional development.
•Policy has been changed
•Travel is expected, when possible, to happen during work hours.
•If outside of regular work hours, travel time is compensated at a rate of 1:1
•This should be banked time however; supervisor can approve this as paid time per Section 6
SECTION 6 ATTENDANCE AND LEAVES
•6.1 Attendance Record
•6.2 Staff Meetings
•6.3 Paid Holidays
•6.4 Sick Leave
•6.5 Inclement Weather
•6.6 Overtime
•6.7 Bereavement Leave
•6.8 Leave of Absence
•6.9 Pregnancy and Parental Leave
•6.10 Citizenship Leave
•6.11 Court Leave/Jury Duty
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 6
•Happy to see there is ability to shorten workday for department staff meetings, would like to see
this for all staff meetings
•This has been changed so that only the landfill can, with CAO approval and appropriate notice to the
public, close 2 hours early (or open late), 2 times a year for staff meetings.
•CAO can seek council approval for closures for staff development.
•Compensation for paid holiday is missing
•Per provincial labour laws
•Some staff would like to see paid time off during Christmas and New Year holiday others wanted
ability to work during this time, others wanted clearer expectations
•Meant to be inclusive of all staff, allows staff to take off the time while offices are closed, but staff may
choose to work
•The work that will be done has to be identified (eg since we are closed the public this is not part of the
work that will be done) and director needs to sign off –does not include the stat holidays
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 6
•Sick Leave –should better reflect mental health and wellness
•Council discussed this; name will remain sick leave
•We do recognize that mental health is a valid use of sick leave
•Also, will encourage staff to stay home if ill, but also acknowledge that the leave is intended to cover staff
when there is a need to take time before long-term disability is effective
•Medical appointments are a valid use of sick time; however, we encourage staff to schedule them outside
of work hours when possible
•Drs notes may only be requested for leaves that are 5 days or greater
•Would like earlier notification than 7 a.m. for inclement weather closures
•We always attempt to notify as early as possible, it’s not always a clear call on closures and we
occasionally are delayed gathering the best information to make an informed decision
•For landfill we attempt to pre-plan closures as often as possible so that we make decisions the day
before when we can
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 6
•Inclement Weather closure policy –not all staff support work from home policy during closures,
some staff felt that previous practice left staff who live close to offices having to be the ones who
come in all the time
•Policy attempts to balance safety of staff and public with need to provide service delivery and be open to
the public, we are stewards of the taxpayer dollars
•Most staff will have some ability to do some work from home, others will be working on site and get pay
premium for that
•Some staff will still be off without getting docked hours
•We understand there are inequities -there is no way to make it fair to all employees -this is considered
to be the best balance of options available.
•This will require pre-planning so that people not able to work from home on a regular basis should have
the ability to work from home if offices are closed for a day (i.e. filing in Laserfiche, catching up on data
entry etc.)
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 6
•Vacation bank should be increased to 70 hours, little risk to Municipality
•Difficult to manage vacation and OT banks, it is a financial liability
•Staff can carryover 35 hrs of banked time and 35 of vacation, any more than this requires concrete plan
to use the carryover and the vacation time for the year.
•Call out for staff should be longer than 3 hours
•Recommendation to keep 3 hours
•Policy does not address standby time/on-call premium
•Recommendation to direct staff to bring back a report outlining options and impacts
•Appreciate broader definition of immediate family and CAO discretion
•Definition of Immediate and Extended family are in the glossary.
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 6
•Volunteer Firefighters –are we limiting response to fire events
•Staff will always be permitted to respond to fire calls, but for other calls operational needs will be taken
into account and department head will discuss on case-by-case basis
•Should we consider ability for employee to take leave of absence to go work for another
employer if experience can be brought back to municipality
•Would only consider this as a formal secondment opportunity, not a leave of absence under this policy
•Would like to see consideration for EI top up for parental leave
•This was discussed with the consultant, and they did not feel it was something that was common for
municipalities
•Council could consider this as an option
•Happy to see Citizenship and Court Leave policies updated
SECTION 7 RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
•7.1 Recruitment & Hiring
•7.2 Employee Orientation & Onboarding
•7.3 Probationary Period
•7.4 Termination of Employment
•7.5 Retention (Stay) Interview
•7.6 Employee Long Service Recognition Policy
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 7
•Would like to see all vacancies be posted internally for a set time and then externally
•Unless a position is part of a restructuring or reorganization, an expression of interest will be circulated
internally before a position is posed externally
•Good to formalize employee onboarding
•Stay interviews should be done with employees who are longer term employees, not just those
with less than 2 years
•Policy states all employees with less than 2 years will be interviewed and then a selection of longer-term
employees will also be chosen each year on a rotating basis
•Employees may want interviews to be anonymous
•The interviews are done confidentially, results are summarized, with no attribution to an individual
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 7
•Good to have long term recognition at 5 years
•Taxable gift cards are not a good appreciation gift
•Gift cards are now non-taxable benefit
•We will look into a gift card/recognition program
•Staff should be able to purchase corporate branded items
•This is something that can be done currently
SECTION 8 HEALTH, SAFETY, AND WELLNESS
•8.1 Occupational Health & Safety
•8.2 Substance Use
•8.3 Employee Wellness & Mental Health
•8.4 Right to Disconnect
•8.5 Work Clothing & Equipment
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 8
•OHS policy should better address workplace inspections
•OHS policy is a policy that has a full program behind it
•Inspection frequency is outlined in the OHS program
•Mental health needs to be better addressed, draft policies were not adequate
•Policies cover OHS, mental health and employee well-being
•There were some errors in the draft, that created some overlapping and confusion in wellbeing and
mental health polices
•Revisions have been made and a combined Employee Wellness and Mental Health Policy was created
•Mental health policies are not intended to be comprehensive and all inclusive; they lay the groundwork
and outline the municipalities commitment to do more work in this area based on the 13 factors
established by the CSA guideline for Psychological health and safety in the workplace
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 8
•Substance Abuse policies do not adequately address ability to respond to impairment
•Language added to look for signs of impairment
•Training should be done with supervisors in this area
•Policies do not allow employee to keep medical history confidential
•Employees have a duty to inform if there is a potential impact that could affect safety in the workplace for
the individual or co-workers, including medications that could potentially impair an employee
•Information is held in confidence
•Employee should be able to appeal a suspected impairment
•This is possible, as outlined in procedures
STAFF COMMENTS -SECTION 8
•PPE limits need to be reviewed again, should be allowed to get new PPE regardless of how
many have been purchased, why limit to just coveralls and not pants. Can we consider a
clothing allowance?
•Municipality provides protective coveralls and PPE gear, not work clothing
•We will review a need for branded clothing and uniforms if there is a desire to do this within departments
•Clothing allowance is not something we would consider at this time
•CAO can approve anything over and above the limits in the policy
RECOMMENDATIONS
•It is recommended that council give notice of intention to repeal P-55 Personnel Policy and
replace it with the proposed Policy;
•Further it is recommended that Council direct staff to prepare a staff report and provide options
on Council Remuneration; and
•Further it is recommended that Council provide direction to staff to prepare a report on options
for call out/on-call time
REQUEST FOR DIRECTION
REPORT TO: Committee of the Whole
MEETING DATE: December 14, 2023
DEPARTMENT: Infrastructure & Operations
SUBJECT: Water Supply & Septic System Loan Program
ORIGIN: Strategic Priorities
Date: December 5, 2023 Prepared by: Jonathan Meakin, Manager, Sustainability & Asset Management
Date: Reviewed by:
Date: December 8, 2023 Authorized by: Tara Maguire, CAO
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Council is asked to review the Options outlined below and determine a preferred approach to offering
a revised water supply loan program and a new septic system loan program.
CURRENT SITUATION
Following the development and adoption of loan programs that provide property owners with
financing for on-site water supply system upgrades and energy efficiency retrofits, Council asked staff
to explore options for a similar program for on-site septic systems. For this report, staff have
completed a jurisdictional scan and outlined some core considerations for either separate financing
programs or a combined program approach. Following Council’s direction, staff will proceed with
drafting the by-law (or by-laws) and other necessary administrative documents for legal and Council
review.
BACKGROUND
Currently, the Municipality of the District of Chester offers the following programs to help reduce
financial barriers for eligible property owners whose properties have demonstrated on-site water
supply and energy efficiency needs.
Water Supply Upgrade Lending Program
1. Launched in August 2018
2. By-Law 148: Water Supply Upgrade Lending Program
3. Water Supply Upgrade Lending Program Financing Agreement
4. Program administered by Municipal staff
5. Provides a loan of up to $10,000 for eligible property owners for improving the supply of potable
water to eligible properties within the Municipality
6. Loans are repaid over 10 years, with interest payable at Scotiabank’s prime interest rate at the
effective date of the PACE Customer Agreement
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 2
Clean Energy Financing Program
Launched in May 2023
By-Law 154: Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program
Policy P-111: Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program
Program administered by Clean Foundation
Provides a loan of up to $40,000 or 15% of the full assessed property value for eligible property
owners for energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy equipment to eligible properties
within the Municipality
Loans are repaid over 10 years, with interest payable at Scotiabank’s prime interest rate at the
effective date of the Financing Agreement
These programs are authorized by provisions and regulations in the Municipal Government Act,
notably:
By-law regarding equipment charges
81A (1) The council may make by-laws imposing, fixing and providing methods of enforcing payment of
charges for the financing and installation of any of the following on private property with the consent of
the property owner:
(a) energy-efficiency equipment;
(b) renewable energy equipment;
(c) equipment for the supply, use, storage or conservation of water; and
(d) on-site sewage disposal equipment.
(2) A by-law passed pursuant to this Section may provide
(a) that the charges fixed by, or determined pursuant to, the by-law may be chargeable according to a
plan or method set out in the by-law;
(b) that the charges may be different for different classes of development and may be different in
different areas of the municipality;
(c) when the charges are payable;
(d) that the charges are first liens on the real property and may be collected in the same manner as other
taxes;
(e) that the charges be collectable in the same manner as taxes and, at the option of the treasurer, be
collectable at the same time, and by the same proceedings, as taxes;
(f) a means of determining when the lien becomes effective or when the charges become due and
payable;
(g) that the amount payable may, at the option of the owner of the property, be paid in the number of
annual instalments set out in the by-law and, upon default of payment of any instalment, the balance
becomes due and payable; and
(h) that interest is payable annually on the entire amount outstanding and unpaid, whether or not the
owner has elected to pay by instalments, at a rate and beginning on a date fixed by the by-law.
Other Municipal Programs
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 3
Currently, there are seven municipal units that provide water supply and/or septic loan programs. Four
(4) offer water supply programs only; three (3) offer a combined water supply and septic program. No
municipality offers a standalone septic program.
Water Supply Loan Programs ONLY
Annapolis County
District of Argyle
District of Barrington
District of Yarmouth
Combined Water Supply & Septic Loan Programs
Halifax Regional Municipality
Victoria County
East Hants (a one-year pilot program authorized earlier this year)
DISCUSSION
During discussion of the Municipality’s Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program in partnership
with Clean, Council raised the possibility of reviewing the current Water Supply Upgrade Lending
Program and developing a similar program to finance the repair, upgrade or replacement of residential
onsite septic systems.
Below are some points for Council’s review. Council’s direction concerning these points will help
inform staff’s next steps in developing draft program documents for subsequent reports.
1. Develop a combined Water Supply & Septic System Loan Program or separate programs?
In an effort to streamline processes, and based on the combined approach taken by three other
municipal units, staff recommend that we proceed with the development of a combined Water
Supply & Septic System Loan Program. If Council agrees, staff will need to determine whether to
amend the current By-Law 148: Water Supply Upgrade Lending Program and associated
administrative documents, or repeal By-Law 148 and develop a new by-law and associated
documents.
2. Council expressed an interest in adding commercial properties to the Water Supply Upgrade
Lending Program.
Currently, for the Clean Energy Financing program and the Water Supply Upgrade Lending
Program, a “Qualifying Property” means a residential property, while multi-unit residential
properties with more than two (2) dwelling units, or business or industrial premises are not eligible.
Section 57(2) of the Municipal Government Act specifically prohibits Municipalities from providing
direct financial assistance to businesses or industries, with concessions for businesses improving
accessibility and the supply of affordable housing.
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 4
In addition, the underlying principle behind authorizing municipalities to provide these financing
programs is to remove, or at least help reduce, financial barriers for residents with an urgent need
to address essential service delivery needs. There is no financial risk for the Municipality in helping
facilitate such access to improving essential onsite services as financing awarded to homeowners
will be repaid, along with any interest, as a Local Improvement Charge secured as a lien on the
property
3. Potential loan amount maximums.
The maximum amount of funding currently available through the Water Supply Upgrade Lending
Program is $10,000 per eligible property.
The cost for a well upgrade can range from $5,000 to $20,000, and the cost for a new septic system
can range from $15,000 to $40,000 (with an average of around $20,000). Given the recent
inflationary pressures for materials and labour, such essential on-site services could cost residents
even more.
Well loan programs provided by other municipal units provide a $10K-$15K maximum amount,
while HRM provides a $20K maximum and Victoria County provides a $10K maximum for well or
septic system loan.
Staff’s recommendations are:
that any program revision for the water supply loan program should increase the maximum
eligible amount to at least $15,000
that a septic system loan program should provide a maximum eligible amount of at least
$20,000
Staff will review these possible funding maximums in greater detail when presenting the draft
program to Council.
4. Total program allocation.
Staff recommend that an allocation from reserves be used to provide water supply and septic
system loans. This would align the financial administration process with that of the Clean Energy
Financing Program. The total program allocation will be derived by the Director of Finance and
identified, with a clear rationale, in subsequent reports to Council.
5. Should properties within a wastewater service boundary be able to access the septic system loan
program?
Council’s direction on this will be built into the eligibility framework and administrative processes
for a resulting septic system financing program.
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 5
6. Staffing implications.
Although the Clean Energy Financing program is administered by an external organization, well and
septic loan programs (whether combined or separate) are managed directly by the Municipality
and have an impact on staff time. Department of Financial and Information Services will handle
program administration, the Department of Corporate & Strategic Management will provide
communications, and the Department of Infrastructure & Operations leads program development
and document drafting. At this point, the current Water Supply Upgrade Lending Program is
managed without a significant impact on capacity. Adding a septic system loan program may well
have a greater impact, and staff will need to assess that impact on capacity and resources in
subsequent reports to Council.
OPTIONS
1. Direct staff to develop a combined Water Supply & Septic System Loan Program, including a
draft By-Law and associated administrative documents.
2. Direct staff to provide an updated By-Law 148: Water Supply Upgrade Lending Program and
associated administrative documents and to develop a new Septic System Loan Program,
including a draft By-Law and administrative documents.
3. Direct staff to take no action at this time.
IMPLICATIONS
By-Law/Policy
The introduction of a new septic system program or combined water upgrade and septic system will require a
new by-law.
Financial/budgetary
Ultimately, financing awarded to homeowners will be repaid, along with any interest, as a Local Improvement
Charge secured as a lien on the property.
Environmental
Helping reduce barriers for residents to secure reliable water and wastewater services addresses impacts of
climate change, protects the environment from failing septic systems, and invests in more sustainable and
resilient communities.
Strategic Priorities
The development of a Water Supply & Septic System Loan Program will assist the Municipality in advancing the
following Priority Outcomes of the 2021-24 Strategic Priorities Framework:
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 6
Priority Outcomes: Environmental Stewardship
3. Support environmental conservation & protection initiatives and efforts to tackle the impact of
climate change.
Priority Outcomes: Governance & Engagement
1. Ensure municipal service delivery is efficient and effective, communicated and accessible.
2. Ensure municipal bylaw and policy frameworks reflect current and changing needs.
Priority Outcomes: Healthy & Vibrant Communities
3. Determine a municipal role in terms of protecting and increasing a broad range of housing stock to
meet community needs.
Priority Outcomes: Infrastructure & Service Delivery
1. Develop and implement evidence-based plans for future infrastructure and service needs, along with
related funding models, to accommodate sustainable growth and levels of service.
2. Create efficiencies through innovative service delivery, and proactive maintenance and operations of
existing infrastructure.
Work Program Implications
As addressed in the Discussion section above.
Has Legal review been completed? ___ Yes _ _ No __ N/A
COMMUNICATIONS (INTERNAL/EXTERNAL)
N/A
ATTACHMENTS
N/A
PLANNING MATTERS REPORT
REPORT TO: Municipal Council
MEETING DATE: December 14, 2023
DEPARTMENT: Planning & Development
SUBJECT: Small Option Dwellings
ORIGIN: Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Date: December 5, 2023 Prepared by: Paul Riley, Planner
Date: December 5, 2023 Reviewed by: Garth Sturtevant, Senior Planner; Chad Haughn, Director of CD&D
Date: December 8, 2023 Authorized by: Tara McGuire, CAO
RECCOMENDED MOTION
1. That Municipal Council give First Reading to the revised draft amendments, attached as Appendix A, to
add a definition and general provision for small option dwellings to the Municipal Land Use By-law and
schedule a Public Hearing for Thursday January 14th, 2024 at 8:45 am in Municipal Council Chambers.
CURRENT SITUATION
At the Council Meeting on November 30, 2023, Council passed a motion to proceed to a Public Hearing with
draft amendments for small option dwellings. As municipal staff proceeded with the amendment process an
amendment to the draft Amendments was deemed necessary. The wording of the last sentence should be:
Small option dwellings are not considered to be residential care facilities such as continuing care facilities
or nursing homes.
Rather than:
Residential facilities such as continuing care facilities and nursing homes do not apply to this provision.
Although the wording has the same intent, the wording from the Draft Village Land Use By-law is preferrable
and the Municipal Land Use By-law should match the Village Land Use By-law.
We recommend that Council approve this minor revision by conducting First Reading to the revised draft
amendments in Appendix A. The wording of the motion passed on November 30th, 2023, is accurate and the
original Public Hearing date of January 14th, 2024 remains valid and all required advertising timelines are able to
be met.
P l a n n i n g M a t t e r s R e p o r t P a g e | 2
Appendix A – Proposed Amendments to the Chester Municipal Land Use By-law
Be it enacted by the Council of the Municipality of Chester as follows:
1. Add the following definition for Small Option Dwellings as a new sub-section of the definition for
Dwelling:
Small option dwelling: a type of home licensed under the Homes for Special Care Act, housing
up to four residents with developmental, mental health, or physical disabilities. Residents live
independently in the community and receive assistive support from staff. Small option dwellings
are not considered to be residential care facilities such as continuing care facilities or nursing
homes.
2. Add the following to the general provision as a sub-section to Section 4.1 Application, Waiver and
Exemption:
4.1.10 Small Option Dwellings
Small option dwellings shall be permitted in all zones where any type of residential use
is permitted.
PLANNING MATTERS REPORT
REPORT TO: Municipal Council
MEETING DATE: November 30, 2023
DEPARTMENT: Planning & Development
SUBJECT: Small Option Dwellings
ORIGIN: Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Date: November 22, 2023 Prepared by: Paul Riley, Planner
Date: Reviewed by: Garth Sturtevant, Senior Planner; Chad Haughn, Director of CD&D
Date: Authorized by: Tara McGuire, CAO
RECCOMENDED MOTION
1. That Municipal Council give First Reading to the draft amendments, attached as Appendix A, to add a
definition and general provision for small option dwellings to the Municipal Land Use By-law and
schedule a Public Hearing for Thursday January 14th, 2024 at 8:45 am in Municipal Council Chambers.
CURRENT SITUATION
In accordance with recent changes to the Municipal Government Act and Statements of Provincial Interests
Regarding Housing, the Municipal Land Use By-law and the Village of Chester Land Use By-law require
amendment to include provisions related to specific permission for small option dwellings, which are homes
occupied by groups of 3-4 individuals with disabilities. The Provincial government recently identified a need to
recognize and define small option dwellings as a distinct form of residential land use that is similar in nature and
function to conventional residential land use. Municipalities need to amend Land Use By-laws to ensure this land
use is permitted and is not subject to more requirements than a typical residential dwelling unit.
The intent of the amendments is to:
add a definition to formally define the land use; and,
add a general provision to permit the use in any zone where residential use is permitted to ensure such
uses are subject to the same development requirements as the development of conventional residential
land use(s).
The amendments to the Municipal Land Use By-law would follow typical amendment procedures, while the
draft amendments to the Village By-law have already been included in the Draft Chester Village Land Use By-law
under review. Both the LUBs have identical text in draft regulations.
BACKGROUND
On June 2, 2022, the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing circulated an information bulletin and letter
(attached) to municipal CAOs and Clerks explaining that municipalities are required to treat ‘Small Option
Homes’ consistent to similarly functioning residential land uses. The Province is revising how they house people
with disabilities, with a focus on smaller options rather than traditional large institutional settings.
This information bulletin defines small option homes as follows:
“. . . a type of community residential placement licensed under the Homes for Special Care Act. They
house three or four residents with developmental, mental health or physical disabilities. Residents
live independently in community homes and receive support services from staff.”
P l a n n i n g M a t t e r s R e p o r t P a g e | 2
Further to the bulletin/letter from the provincial ministry, small option dwellings are a group home setting that
retains the physical characteristics of a conventional residential dwelling and functions as a home-like
environment, therefore, they should be treated as such.
From a land use perspective, this means that small option dwellings should be subject to the same development
requirements (such as development permits, building and lot requirements, etc.) as any other conventional
residential dwelling units (single-unit dwellings or dwelling units in duplexes, townhouses, or multi-unit
buildings) in the same zone. As such, municipal staff must now ensure that the Municipal and Village Land Use
By-laws allow for small option dwellings in all zones where “equivalent” residential uses are permitted.
Additionally, the provincial bulletin indicates that “planning documents adopted after the adoption of a
Statement of Provincial Interest must be consistent with the Statement”, therefore, the Municipality would be
required to include amendments in the Village LUB Review and the Municipal LUB would need to be amended
prior to, or during, the next Municipal MPS and LUB Review. Based on the necessity to include the amendments
in the Village By-law as part of the Review and the undetermined timing of a future review of the Municipal MPS
and LUB, it is recommended that a municipality-led amendment to the Municipal Land Use By-law be processed
to ensure this land use is recognized and permitted, and that the Municipal LUB would be consistent to the
Village Land Use By-law (once the updated version is approved).
DISCUSSION
To ensure small option dwellings are suitably accounted for in the land use by-laws, a standalone definition for
small option dwellings will need to be added, in addition to adding a specific section to General Provisions
Section 4.0 of the LUB.
The draft definition (attached to the end of this report) is based on the provincial definition and is the same as
the current draft definition in the “Village Plan” review. The definition notes that small option homes are
different than the other types of assisted living arrangements such as continuing care facilities or nursing homes.
And to further connect small option dwellings to conventional residential dwellings, the definition of small
option dwelling is recommended to be added as a sub-definition to the definition of ‘dwelling’ in each land use
by-law.
The proposed general provision is deemed to be the most appropriate approach to ensure that small option
dwellings are permitted and treated equivalently to other forms of residential use. The other option would be to
list small option dwellings in the permitted uses section of each zone that permits residential use. The provincial
directive notes that the intent is to permit small option homes in any type of residential unit (apartment, house,
townhouse, etc.) that is permitted in the municipality. There are a number of zones which permit residential
use, therefore, adding a general provision is preferrable to amending each zones permitted use table to include
small options dwellings.
MUNICIPAL PLANNING STRATEGY POLICY ANALYSIS
The Housing policies in the Municipal Planning Strategy include the following applicable policy consideration:
Policy L-16
Council shall encourage a range of housing types and densities that respond to the needs and physical
character of each area, including but not limited to: housing for varied household sizes, housing for
seniors and others with special housing needs, and affordable housing.
P l a n n i n g M a t t e r s R e p o r t P a g e | 3
PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING
A Public Information Meeting was held on September 20th at the Municipal Council Chambers, beginning at
6:00pm. One member of the public attended and asked for clarification on the type of land use, and it was
clarified that the intent was not 3-4 separate buildings on a lot but rather 3-4 residents in one building/unit.
MUNICIPAL PLANNING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
On Wednesday November 15, 2023, the Municipal Planning Advisory Committee met to review and discuss the
proposed Municipal Land Use By-law Amendments. The Planner and Senior Planner spoke to the staff report
and responded to questions from members of the Committee. There were no concerns or revisions expressed
by MPAC regarding the proposed approach or amendments and it was recommended that the amendments be
brought to Council for First Reading by way of the following motion:
That the Chester Municipal Planning Advisory Committee recommend to Municipal Council that the
enclosed (Appendix A) draft amendments to the Municipal Land Use By-law for small option dwellings
proceed to first reading.
MOVED by Ross Shatford, SECONDED by Leslie Taylor that the Chester Municipal Planning Advisory Committee
recommend to Municipal Council that the enclosed (Appendix A) draft amendments to the Municipal Land Use
By-Law for small option dwellings proceed to first reading. ALL IN FAVOR. MOTION CARRIED.
OPTIONS
1. That Municipal Council give First Reading to the draft amendments, attached as Appendix A, to add a
definition and general provision for small option dwellings to the Municipal Land Use By-law and
schedule a Public Hearing for Thursday January 14th, 2024 at 8:45 am in Municipal Council Chambers.
2. That Municipal Council reject the draft amendments, attached as Appendix A, to add a definition and
general provision for small option dwellings to the Municipal Land Use By-law.
3. That Municipal Council request additional information or changes to the draft amendments. The
requested information or changes will be brought forward to a future Council meeting.
IMPLICATIONS
By-Law/Policy
The Municipal Land Use By-law will align with the Statement of Provincial Interest Regarding Housing.
Financial/budgetary
None
Environmental
None
Strategic Priorities
Healthy & Vibrant Communities
2. Develop an accessibility, diversity, and equity lens for municipal plans and services, and support partners in
advancing accessible and inclusive communities.
Work Program Implications
None
Has Legal review been completed? ___ Yes _X_ No __ N/A
P l a n n i n g M a t t e r s R e p o r t P a g e | 4
Appendix A – Proposed Amendments to the Chester Municipal Land Use By-law
Be it enacted by the Council of the Municipality of Chester as follows:
1. Add the following definition for Small Option Dwellings as a new sub-section of the definition for
Dwelling:
Small option dwelling: a type of home licensed under the Homes for Special Care Act, housing
up to four residents with developmental, mental health, or physical disabilities. Residents live
independently in the community and receive assistive support from staff. Small option dwellings
are not considered to be residential care facilities such as continuing care facilities or nursing
homes.
2. Add the following to the general provision as a sub-section to Section 4.1 Application, Waiver and
Exemption:
4.1.10 Small Option Dwellings
Small option dwellings shall be permitted in all zones where any type of residential use
is permitted.
P l a n n i n g M a t t e r s R e p o r t P a g e | 5
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1: June 2022 Small Option Homes Information Bulletin
P l a n n i n g M a t t e r s R e p o r t P a g e | 6
P l a n n i n g M a t t e r s R e p o r t P a g e | 7
Attachment 2: October 2022 Small Option Homes Information Bulletin
Page 1 of 2
MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF CHESTER
~ COMMUNITY CAPITAL GRANT ~
GUIDELINES
The purpose of the Community Capital Grant is to provide financial assistance to community organizations
to enhance their ability to operate a quality community facility or to better serve members of the public.
This funding opportunity is intended to support capital projects, such as, improvements to facilities or
purchase of equipment that will expand the capacity of the organization.
Eligible Applicants
You must be a non-profit organization, or otherwise comply with the requirements of the
Municipal Government Act for eligibility for a grant or contribution by a Municipality (Section
65(AU).
Your primary purpose must be to operate, sponsor or encourage programs, activities, or facilities
within the Municipality of the District of Chester.
Council may make eligibility exceptions on occasion when deemed appropriate.
Ineligible Applicants
Churches / faith-based organizations.
Private member-based organizations, whose primary focus is to serve its members.
Eligible Projects
Projects must be capital in nature.
Regular operating costs or general repair work is not eligible.
Groups that do not own a community facility are eligible for up to a maximum of $10,000.
Groups that own a community facility and need to make upgrades to core infrastructure (i.e. roof,
mechanical systems) are eligible for up to a maximum of $20,000.
Only expenses incurred after an application is submitted are eligible to be included in the project.
It is always advisable to consult with the Recreation & Parks Services prior to submitting an
application to ensure your project is eligible for this particular grant.
Funding
Council looks favorably at applications that include funding from other sources (i.e. grants from
other levels of government, in-kind contributions and fundraising efforts).
Council will review all applications and determine the funding level for each project.
Page 2 of 2
Application Procedure
Applications must be submitted by January 31st.
Organizations must complete the Community Capital Grant Application form.
You may attach a separate document if there is insufficient space on the form for your response
to each question.
The application form must be completed in full and have appropriate signatures.
If organizations have questions about the application form or would like to receive assistance to
complete the form, please contact Recreation & Parks Services at 902-275-3490 or by email at
recreation@chester.ca.
After a project is complete, organizations are required to complete and submit a Final Report
Form to indicate how the funds were spent.
Evaluation
Applicants will be reviewed and evaluated based on the following:
Grant criteria have been met.
Demonstrated positive community impact.
The organization has shown a financial need for grant funding.
Alignment with the Municipality’s strategic priorities.
Grant Recognition
The Municipality of Chester encourages appropriate recognition as a funding partner of approved
projects.
Note: The amount of grant funding available is limited. Council reserves the right to approve funding
amounts lower than requested. Council also reserves the right to reject any grant application,
regardless of whether the criteria have been met.
REQUEST FOR DIRECTION
REPORT TO: Municipal Council
MEETING DATE: December 14th, 2023
DEPARTMENT: Community Development & Recreation
SUBJECT: Request from Lynda Flinn to Rezone PID
60094497 to Facilitate a Commercial Agricultural
Use
ORIGIN: Council direction to staff – November 16, 2023
Date: November 30, 2023 Prepared by: Garth Sturtevant, Senior Planner
Date: Reviewed by:
Date: December 8, 2023 Authorized by: Tara Maguire, CAO
RECOMMENDED MOTION/ACTION
For consideration and discussion.
CURRENT SITUATION
Lynda and Paul Flinn attended the Council meeting on November 16, 2023 with a request that Council consider
rezoning PID 60094497 (subject property) as part of the ongoing Village Plan Review. The specific request was to
ensure the proposed zoning for the lot would permit the growing and sale of agricultural produce. Ms. Flinn
provided details on the desired use of the land, utilizing prefabricated vertical farming units sold by an American
manufacturer. The equipment is fully contained in a shipping container and includes lighting, climate control
and hydroponic growing equipment to allow greens to be produced year-round.
BACKGROUND
As staff actively work to produce Draft #2 of
the Village Secondary Planning Strategy and
Land Use By-law, a small number of
property owners have reached out to
discuss specific requests and/or changes to
the draft documents.
As the initial public comment intake was
closed at the end of September, staff have
directed these individual requests to Council
for discussion. Council may then determine
whether or not to provide direction to staff
to make changes to the documents as part
of finalizing Draft #2.
Figure 1 - showing subject property (in red) and existing Medium Residential
Zone
MR
HC
I
LR
RU
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 2
DISCUSSION
History of PID 60094497:
The property in question, PID 60094497, currently falls under the Medium Residential Zone (Figure 1). This
zoning has been in place since 2012, when the property was changed from Highway Commercial to Medium
Residential. The property has a history of being used for storage purposes and a review of issued development
permits confirms the last issued permit was for an addition to a storage building in 2002.
Request to Rezone PID 60094497 and Land Use Considerations:
In the draft Village Secondary Plan and Land Use By-law, the property is proposed to be zoned Residential 4 (R4)
(Figure 2). Neither the existing Medium Residential Zone nor the draft Residential 4 Zone support the proposed
use of commercial agriculture. The Applicant is seeking a rezoning to return the property to Highway
Commercial to permit commercial agriculture on the lot.
Given the relatively small land area occupied by the Village of Chester, previous plans have not extensively
addressed traditional agriculture, except for provisions regarding the keeping of farm animals. Given changes in
technology and an increased focus on local food supply, the question of how or if to incorporate agricultural
uses into existing parts of the Village is a valid consideration for Council. Consideration should be given to how
to prioritize land use when considering allocating lands for development, infrastructure expansion, housing and
competing interests such as food availability, security, and economic development opportunities.
The subject property is located within an area that has been identified in recent Council discussion for potential
wastewater expansion. The area has a history of being informally identified as a growth area where higher
densities may be appropriate once municipal servicing is available. Rezoning the lot to Highway Commercial
Figure 2 - subject property (outlined in red) and proposed R4 Zone
Figure 3 - aerial photo of subject property (in red) and surrounding
existing land uses
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 3
would support the wishes of the Applicant and permit commercial agricultural uses on the site. Council should
also consider that Highway Commercial Zone allows a wide range of other commercial uses and there is no
guarantee that the use of the property will indefinitely remain as commercial agriculture. Council should
consider whether the other permitted uses in the HC Zone would be appropriate for the subject property and if
a commercial property centrally located in a future residential growth area is compatible.
The Draft Secondary Planning Strategy does contain policy statements on when and how the Highway
Commercial Zone may expand:
Policy CC-48
The Land Use By-law will permit rezoning of land that is adjacent to the Highway Commercial Zone, to the
Highway Commercia Zone, to allow the future expansion and growth of commercial uses. Adjacent lands shall
include those separated by a public road parcel.
While Council is not currently bound by this policy, given that this policy represents the future intent for the
Highway Commercial Zone, careful consideration should be given to the appropriateness of the subject property
for rezoning.
The subject property is adjacent to an existing Highway Commercial zone, across Old Trunk 3, thereby meeting
the policy intent, but is otherwise surrounded by lots zoned for residential use. The Highway Commercial Zone
also includes provisions for screening commercial properties from those in residential use as well as
requirements for landscaping and parking locations.
Urban Agriculture and Containers:
In addition to the consideration to rezone or amend the draft R4 zone to support commercial agricultural uses,
this request is specifically seeking permission to grow greens and other produce inside a prefabricated shipping
container (Figure 4) for which both the current and draft Land Use By-laws have strict provisions.
This category of use is new to the Municipality and should be considered in relation to a variety of potential
benefits and concerns. Currently both the existing and draft Land Use By-law allow the use of shipping
containers for non-residential storage only within the Highway Commercial Zone. There are additional
requirements regarding screening, orientation, and setback distances.
Consideration should be given to the request and whether requirements for any sort of architectural controls
are appropriate. The proposed use, by nature of being self-contained, is intended to be flexible and adaptable to
be located on or near the users of the produce and also potentially considered as an accessory use, if located on
the same lot as the building that it serves. From a food security and emissions lens, this use is something that
should be considered and particularly whether and how similar “urban” agriculture should be regulated.
In the specific case that has led to the creation of this report, the self-contained agricultural container would be
the main use on the property, with potential expansion to more containers and/or retail outlet possible in future
years.
The Applicant has stated she would be willing to clad the container in an appropriate siding material, which from
a Land Use By-law perspective would likely cause the container to be viewed as any other structure, presuming
the entire container was adequately clad.
If Council wishes to permit the proposed use on the property, direction to staff should include rezoning the
subject property and also ensuring that a shipping container, placed within a structure, or fully clad in
appropriate siding materials would be viewed as any other structure in the zone. For greater clarity, the
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 4
regulations in the Highway Commercial zone for shipping containers would not apply to a container that was
fully clad in appropriate siding materials (ie. Shingle, vinyl, brick, stone etc.). As the subject property is outside of
the Architectural Control Area, the siding proposed would not have to comply with those provisions and could
reasonably be any siding material intended for use on a structure.
In considering this request, Council may wish to study the issues raised on an individual basis, before making a
final decision whether to rezone the subject property:
Urban commercial agriculture as a regulated land use, whether this is appropriate within the Village of
Chester, how to address issues such as noise, odour etc., and whether the Land Use By-law should
outline differing regulations for agriculture depending on whether it is fully enclosed within a structure.
The use of shipping containers when located inside a structure or fully clad with appropriate siding
materials and whether in such a case the container is viewed as any other similarly sized structure.
The request to rezone the property to Highway Commercial and whether this is in keeping with the
expected future use, development, and best interest of the Municipality.
OPTIONS
1. Direct staff to rezone PID 60094497 to Highway Commercial as part of the Village of Chester Plan Review
process, ensure that commercial agriculture is a permitted use in the zone and add language that when
www.freightfarms.com
Figure 4 - an example of a Freight Farm Model Unit
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 5
clad with appropriate materials, shipping containers may be viewed as any other similar sized structure
in the Highway Commercial Zone.
2. Direct staff to amend the draft Land Use By-law to permit urban agriculture in the Residential 4 Zone
and add language that when clad with appropriate materials, shipping containers may be viewed as any
other similar sized structure and would now be permitted in both the Highway Commercial and
Residential 4 Zone.
3. Direct staff to make no changes to the draft Land Use By-law and zoning map (maintain existing zoning
and shipping container provisions).
IMPLICATIONS
By-Law/Policy
Depending on the decision of Council, changes to the Draft Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law
will be undertaken to implement the direction provided.
Financial/budgetary
No significant impacts anticipated.
Environmental
Containerized agriculture likely has less potential for land use conflicts with neighbouring residential uses,
however, the possibility of noise generated by the heating, cooling, fans and air exchange could create nuisance
issues.
Strategic Priorities
The direction given to staff on whether to permit containerized urban agriculture and whether to rezone PID
60094497 to the Highway Commercial Zone has the potential to assist the Municipality in advancing the
following Priority Outcomes of the 2021-24 Strategic Priorities Framework:
Priority Outcomes: Economic Development
Partner in the development of infrastructure and opportunities for business development and
attraction.
Promote and grow the Municipality’s economic sectors.
Priority Outcomes: Governance & Engagement
Ensure municipal bylaw and policy frameworks reflect current and changing needs.
Priority Outcomes: Healthy & Vibrant Communities
Determine a municipal role in terms of protecting and increasing a broad range of housing stock to meet
community needs.
Work Program Implications
Any direction from Council that results in changes to the draft planning documents will be handed by the Senior
Planner as part of the ongoing work to prepare Draft #2 of the Village SPS and LUB for consideration. No
significant delays or additional workload are expected as a result of this request.
Has Legal review been completed? ___ Yes _X_ No ___ N/A
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 6
COMMUNICATIONS (INTERNAL/EXTERNAL)
If this request results in changes to the draft planning documents, they will be discussed and conveyed along
with other changes made in support of preparing Draft #2 of the SPS and LUB. While specific decisions on public
engagement are not yet finalized, it is expected that Council will authorize an additional round of public
engagement when Draft #2 is prepared and presented at a Council meeting.
ATTACHMENTS
Appendix A - Submission from Lynda Flinn in support of rezoning PID 60094497
Hydroponic Farm The Kiwi Cafe
We are proposing a vertical hydroponic farm on our property at 55 Old
Trunk 3 in Chester.
It will be entirely inside a purpose built insulated container,sitting on a
50 x 10 foot pad.
It is capable of growing a variety of leafy greens 365 days a year,the
equivalent of 2.5 acres worth of fresh produce regardless of the out side
climate.
We would like to provide a local year round source of greens for our
Chester restaurant s and pantry store.We will no longer need to source
greens from Mexico or Florida,with less food miles and a longer shelf
life this means a fresher and healthier product.
Localized food production can be an e ective way to reduce the
environmental impact of agriculture and promote healthier
communities.
Food grown locally travels significantly less from the farm to your fork,
eliminating unnecessary food miles.Additionally,urban farmers often
adopt more environmentally-friendly growing practices,using fewer
pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
The community benefit will ex tend to other restaurants,stores,markets,
schools and the local food bank as volumes increase.We will have an
opportunity for educational tours and engagement also.
Once in place it is virtually silent,emits no light pollution and has little to
no impact on the area around it.Har vesting and packaging is
completed inside the unit.Water use is minimal and recycled.
Farm Dimensions -40’x 8’x 9.5’
Annual Crop Output -2–6 tons
Equivalent Land Yield -2–4 acres annually
Power Usage -151–350 kWh/day (avg.)
Water Usage -5 gallons/day (avg.)
ro
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I RECEIVED
v_ November 27, 2023
INC O RATED f
Honourable Steven Guilbeault
1010-800 Maisonneuve Blvd East
TOWN OF OXFORD
Montreal, Quebec
H2L 4L8
5201 MAIN Sr.
P. O. Box 338 Email: Steven.Guilbeault@earl. c.ca
OXFORD, NOVA SCOTIA
BOM 1P0 Dear Honourable Guilbeault,
PHONE: 902447-2170 RE: Exemption of Volunteer Emergency Service Providers from New Fuel ChargesFAX: 902-447-2485
This letter is to acknowledge and support the Municipality of Barrington in their letter
dated July 27, 2023, and the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth in their letter dated
November 1, 2023, regarding the request for carbon tax exemption for volunteer
emergency service providers.
Oxford Town Council understands the importance to reduce and eliminate the use of
fossil fuels as it is destroying our climate, but we are concerned with the extra financial
burden on the volunteer emergency service providers as they are on a limited and fixed
budget to protect our Town.
To reiterate Warden Cunningham's letter, The emergency service providers are
volunteers, sacrificially working out of their desire to make communities safer,
selflessly putting their lives at risk in times of crisis; working tirelessly to fund training
and equipment purchases; all of which is enough of a price to pay to keep our residents
safe."
Oxford Town Council shares the same request as the Municipality of Barrington and the
Municipality of the District of Yarmouth to also ask that the application of the carbon
tax on volunteer emergency service providers be removed.
Please contact me if you would like to discuss this further, my email is
ghenley@oxfordns.ca and phone number is 902-397-2785
Kind Regards,
1011/
Greg Henley
Mayor
I I P a g e
a
INS ATED
TOWN OF OXFORD
5201 MAIN Sr.
P. O. Box 338
OXFORD, NOVA SCOTI.A
BOM 1P0
PHONE: 902447-2170
FAX: 902-447-2485
21Pag
Oxford Town Council
Federation of Canadian Municipalities
Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities
Zach Churchill, MLA Yarmouth
Nova Scotia Municipalities
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Source: Service Nova Scotia and Municipal RelationsInformation shown on these drawings is compiled fromnumerous sources and may not be complete or accurate.The Municipality of the District of Chester is notresponsible for any errors, omissions or deficiencies inthese drawings.
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REQUEST FOR DECISION
REPORT TO: Municipal Council
MEETING DATE: December 7, 2023
DEPARTMENT: Solid Waste, IAO
SUBJECT: Public Drop Off/HHW Sandblast & Painting
ORIGIN: Motion 2023-356: Kaizer Meadow Landfill
Date: November 27, 2023 Prepared by: Christa Rafuse, P.Eng., Director of Solid Waste
Date: November 29, 2023 Reviewed by: Dan Pittman & Matthew Blair, Director of IAO
Date: November 30, 2023 Authorized by: Tara Maguire, CAO
RECOMMENDED MOTION
It is recommended that the Municipality of Chester award the PDO Reno to LDG Contracting, in the amount of
$88,000 (excl HST).
CURRENT SITUATION
The Municipality completed the tender for sandblasting/painting of the Public Drop Off (PDO) and the
Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) structures for Kaizer Meadow Landfill. Budge amendment of $100,000 and
staff authorization to tender the work was given July 27, 2023 (Motion 2023-356).
BACKGROUND
On July 27, 2023, council approved staff to tender the sandblasting/painting of the Public Drop Off (PDO) and
the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) structures for Kaizer Meadow Landfill. The PDO and the HHW depot
structures need sandblasting and painting (trusses) to maintain structural integrity and for aesthetic purposes.
The tender (MODC-T-013) was prepared, posted, and closed on November 9, 2023. Two companies bid on the
project. A bid evaluation was conducted which consisted of examining mathematical results of each bid and
confirming evidence of the presence of various required submission documents such as bid security
requirements, acknowledgement of addenda, and proposed contract time as set forth in the tender documents.
BIDDER AMOUNT (excl HST)
LDG Contracting $88,000
Bidder B $242,126
DISCUSSION
The PDO structure and the HHW structure are in poor condition aesthetically. To physically maintain the
structures in a sound and safe condition sandblasting the trusses, inspecting, and repainting (application of
liquid zinc then epoxy) is necessary.
R e q u e s t f o r D e c i s i o n P a g e | 2
OPTIONS
1. Approve the award recommendation to LDG Contracting
2. Council can provide alternate direction and/or request additional information.
IMPLICATIONS
By-Law/Policy
MODC Procurement Policy P-04
Financial/budgetary
The capital budget was amended in July 2023, an estimated value not to exceed $100,000 plus HST. The amount
to be funded from the 2023-2024 operating revenue, 83.66% of which is budgeted to be funded from Valley
Waste contributions, and the remaining amount funded from other landfill revenues.
The bidder price is $88,000 (excl HST), within the amended budget approved by Council.
Environmental
NA
Strategic Priorities
NA
Work Program Implications
This work will be managed by the Director of Solid Waste.
Has Legal review been completed? _ Yes _No X N/A
REQUEST FOR DECISION
REPORT TO: Municipal Council
MEETING DATE: December 14, 2023
DEPARTMENT: Community Development & Recreation Dept.
SUBJECT: New Road Name Assignment
ORIGIN: New Private Road Name Request
Date: 2023-11-23 Prepared by: Sylvia Dixon, Development & Planning Technician
Date: 2023-11-29 Reviewed by: Chad Haughn, Director of CDRD
Date: 2023-12-08 Authorized by: Tara Maguire, CAO
RECOMMENDED MOTION
It is recommended that Municipal Council approve the proposed private road name Berties Way.
CURRENT SITUATION
A private right-of-way accessed off of Highway 14 in Windsor Road (map attached) that will provide access for a
development of three or more addressable structures requires a name. The landowners have proposed the road
name of Berties Way.
BACKGROUND
When there are three or more addressable structures using an unnamed shared right-of-way/driveway, the
Nova Scotia Civic Address Users Guide states that this point of access must be named. According to Municipal
Policy P-44, the road name is suggested following a majority agreement (66%) from the landowners that are
served by the shared right-of-way. In this instance, the one property owner has proposed the following road
names: Berties Way as the first choice, Alberta Pew Lane as the second choice, and Church Lane as the third
choice for the new private road name. The proposed names were suggested by a majority of the property
owners, representing 100% of the properties.
DISCUSSION
Berties Way would be a unique road name in the Municipality of Chester and Nova Scotia. It is of note that the
proposed new road names are similar to the following:
- Berts Lane, Newburne, Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, Lunenburg County
- Berts Drive, Halifax, Halifax Regional Municipality, Halifax County
- Alberta Street, Dartmouth, Halifax Regional Municipality, Halifax County
- Church Lane, Middle New Cornwall, Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, Lunenburg County
Comments received for Berties Way:
- District 7 Councillor – Councilor Sharon Church: no objection with the proposed name
- Municipal Engineer – Fred Whynot: preference for Berties Way
- Chester Area Fire Dept. – Fire Chief: no objection with the proposed name
R e q u e s t f o r D e c i s i o n P a g e | 2
OPTIONS
1. Municipal Council can approve the road name Berties Way.
2. Municipal Council can decide not to approve the name and direct staff to assign a name of Council’s
choosing.
IMPLICATIONS
By-Law/Policy
Policy P-44 – New Road Names and Road Name Changes.
Financial/budgetary
A new road sign (with accessory materials) will be purchased and posted by the Infrastructure & Operations
Department.
Environmental
N/A
Strategic Priorities
N/A
Work Program Implications
N/A
Has Legal review been completed? N/A
COMMUNICATIONS (INTERNAL/EXTERNAL)
N/A
ATTACHMENTS
1. Petition Received
2. Location Map
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MUNICIPALITY OF THEDISTRICT OF CHESTER
From Date: N/ATo Date: N/ADate Printed: 23/11/21
®
Legend
^_New Civic Address
Civic Address
Road
Driveway/Trail
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Property Boundary
100 0 10050
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Digital Folders Entry ID:1408939
Status: ExistsProject ID: N/AClassification #: N/A
Representation of Municipality of Chester within Nova ScotiaScale: 1:12,500,000
Scale: 1:4,500
New Private Road NameRequirement
New Private Road Naming
Sources:Digital Base Map Data from Service Nova Scotia andMunicipal Relations
Prepared by the Municipality of the District of Chester
Coordinate System/Datum: UTM NAD83 CSRS ZONE20N
Map Disclaimer:Information shown on these drawings is compiledfrom numerous sources and may not be complete oraccurate. The Municipality of the District of Chester isnot responsible for any errors, omissions ordeficiencies in these drawings. Date printed does notreflect date ofdata.
Actual Map Size: w 11" x h 8.5"
Community:Windsor RoadPID:60141835AAN:04373316Fire Dept:Chester Area Fire Dept.Description:New private road name required for ashared driveway access with three or more civicaddresses. The current addresses of 725 and 739Highway 14 share a driveway access with a newstructure requiring a civic address.Building Permit Reference Number: CM-B2023-066
New Private RoadName Proposed:Berties Way )
REQUEST FOR DIRECTION
REPORT TO: Municipal Council
DEPARTMENT: Community Development and Recreation
MEETING DATE: December 14, 2023
SUBJECT: Radiocommunications Facilities
ORIGIN: Council Direction
Date: November 22, 2023 Prepared by: Paul Riley, Planner
Date: Reviewed by: Garth Sturtevant, Senior Planner; Chad Haughn, Director CD&D
Date: December 8, 2023 Authorized by: Tara McGuire, CAO
RECOMMENDED MOTION/ACTION
1. In order to amend the process for consultation on federal license approvals for new
radiocommunications facilities (“cell towers”), by establishing a Municipal Policy process and by
removing policies and/or regulations from municipal planning documents, and by ending the
partnership with CRINS, that Municipal Council direct staff to prepare:
a. A staff report;
b. A draft Municipal Policy;
c. Draft amendments to the Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law;
d. Draft amendments for the Village of Chester Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law
(include in the ongoing Village Plan Review); and,
e. End the partnership with CRINS
i. Confirm and prepare for the process to end the partnership
ii. Carry out the process once alternative Municipal Policy is adopted.
CURRENT SITUATION
The licensing for new cell towers falls under the approval authority of Innovation, Science and Economic
Development Canada (ISEDC) and applicants to ISEDC for a license are required to carry out consultation with
the local municipality and nearby residents. Municipalities have some decision power over how that
consultation is carried out.
The Municipality has a Strategic Priority to review policies and develop a siting policy. This is based on general
dissatisfaction with the Municipality’s current consultation partner, the Canadian Radiocommunications
Information Notification Services (CRINS), when the most recent consultations were carried out in 2021.
Some Municipalities have planning strategy policies, others take a municipal policy approach, with a third option
being a partnership with a third party to carry out the majority of the consultation effort on behalf of the
municipality. It is in the interests of the municipality to review the process to determine which approach is best
moving forward.
BACKGROUND
The licensing for new radiocommunication facilities (cell towers and associated buildings) is under the approval
authority of ISEDC (formerly Industry Canada) and applicants to ISEDC for a license are required to carry out
consultation with the local municipality and nearby residents. ISEDC minimum requirements for proponent
consultation with the local municipality are included in the “Client Procedures Circular” (Circular).
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 2
The municipality can ensure the proponent is meeting local preferences for consultation by establishing a
consultation process to set out certain aspects of the consultation process (ability to make the process more or
less rigorous). The matters that the municipality can determine include:
Hardcopy neighbour notification package circulation distance from the site
Making public information meetings mandatory or not
Making signage at the site mandatory or not
Determine a fee for the consultation
The municipality cannot require consultation on certain types of proposals, however, there are example
policies that encourage proponents to consult on excluded types of towers
o towers less than 15 m in height, towers for non-telecommunications companies, etc.
o Community sensitive locations – proposals on or in proximity to lands with archaeological,
heritage, or environmentally sensitive characteristics (conservation lands)
The municipality can perform the land use authority aspects of the process (siting review, neighbour mail outs,
staff report, etc.) internally or have a third party do the majority of the work, and the process can be set out in
planning policy or other administrative processes such as a municipal policy, by-law or administrative order. The
municipal policy approach appears to offer the most flexible approach because it can be amended easier and
also would reinforce that the municipality does not have control over the land use by separating the
consultation process from municipal planning policy.
Another aspect of this review is that ISEDC now requires consultation materials are provided to the public
(public meeting notice) and neighbours (notification package) and there is a need to ensure adherence to ISEDC
requirements and to make it clear the proponent is responsible and to ensure the fee is adequate to cover costs
relating to translation services.
Current Process - CRINS
Since 2016 the Municipality has partnered with CRINS, a not-for-profit organization owned and operated on
behalf of member governments to undertake public consultation and municipal “concurrence” or signifying
consultation took place and there is no objection (objections can be brought to a dispute process with ISEDC) for
tower proposals. The municipality charges a fee to the applicant to cover the costs of required consultation
effort which is provided to CRINS for their services.
CRINS services include:
Facilitating the required municipal and public consultations
Conducting a siting review and correspondence with the proponent
Preparing a summary report for Council
Municipal staff responsibilities include:
Initial consultation with proponent/CRINS - siting review and general comments
Facilitating the mailout of neighbour notification packages
o Identification of neighbouring properties within the notification distance
o Identification of the property owners and their mailing addresses
Council then considers the summary report from CRINS and if satisfied, directs staff to sign the report
and provide to ISEDC record of “municipal concurrence” or support, or non-support where there may
be an impasse with the proponent on certain aspects of the proposal (aesthetics, siting impacts, etc.).
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 3
There was general dissatisfaction from staff when dealing with CRINS on 4 consultations in 2021. There were
issues with response times and following through on discussions once response was received. On October 30,
2023, the municipality received a letter from CRINS Advisory Board which essentially confirmed that the
organization was not operating optimally, and that they are in the process of significant operational changes,
specifically outsourcing the work to a consulting firm. These changes are intended to be solidified at their AGM
on December 15th, 2023.
DISCUSSION
Following background review and discussion with senior staff there are three options to provide the necessary
consultation for proponent applications to ISEDC, including:
Adopt a Municipal Policy as a consultation protocol specific to radiocommunications facilities, and
remove policies and regulations from the MPS, VSPS and LUBs
Amend the MPS and VSPS to include policies to act as the consultation protocol, and associated
amendments to the LUBs
Maintain the status quo - CRINS providing consultation services and utilizing their protocol
Option 1 Municipal Policy (Recommended)
A Municipal Policy could be adopted by Council to function as the consultation protocol specific to
radiocommunication facility proposals. It can be amended by Council by giving Councilors 7 days’ notice. It
would act as policy for the administrative process of providing adequate consultation rather than being specific
to land use planning policy when the municipality does not have authority over land use for these proposals.
Municipal Staff would need to perform the tasks currently provided by CRINS and specific staff members could
be given delegation powers.
Option 2 Municipal Planning Strategy Policy
The MPS and VSPS could be amended to add policies to act as the process/protocol for the consultation. This
was the Municipality’s process prior to the 2016 CRINS agreement and there are examples in the region (Kings
County for one). The municipal planning policy approach would include similar details to Option 1, however, the
amendment process would be more onerous if/when the federal rules change. Municipal Staff would need to
perform the tasks currently provided by CRINS.
Option 3 – Status Quo
The Municipality has not dealt directly with CRINS on a tower proposal/consultation since 2021. There were
issues at the time and based on recent slow response times regarding questions about the French requirement,
and the subsequent letter from them regarding moving to a consultant model because of operational issues, this
may be the least optimal of the options. However, with the proposed operational changes may come better
service delivery. Delegating efforts to them has the benefit of lessening municipal staff efforts and acts to
further signify to the public that the municipality does not have approval control. The downside would be that
there would be short-term reorganizational challenges. As well as CRINS fees likely going up for proponents. This
is not a downside for the Municipality because these fees cover base costs, would not be particularly onerous in
relation to the overall project cost and these are not projects initiated by residents of the Municipality like other
application fees.
R e q u e s t f o r D i r e c t i o n P a g e | 4
OPTIONS
1. In order to amend the process for consultation on federal license approvals for new
radiocommunications facilities (“cell towers”), by establishing a Municipal Policy process and by
removing policies and/or regulations from municipal planning documents, and by ending the
partnership with CRINS, that Municipal Council direct staff to prepare:
a. A staff report;
b. A draft Municipal Policy;
c. Draft amendments to the Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law;
d. Draft amendments for the Village of Chester Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law
(include in the ongoing Village Plan Review); and,
e. End the partnership with CRINS
i. Confirm and prepare for the process to end the partnership
ii. Carry out the process once alternative Municipal Policy is adopted
2. In order to amend the process for consultation on federal license approvals for new
radiocommunications facilities (“cell towers”), by establishing a municipal planning policies by way of
removing/adding policies and/or regulations in the Municipal Planning Strategy and Village of Chester
Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-laws, and by ending the partnership with CRINS, that
Municipal Council direct staff to prepare:
a. A staff report;
b. Draft amendments to the Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law;
c. Draft amendments for the Village of Chester Secondary Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law
(include in the ongoing Village Plan Review); and,
d. Initiate ending the partnership with CRINS once alternative policy is established.
3. That Municipal Council direct staff to make no changes to the current consultation process, by way of
maintaining the existing partnership with CRINS and utilizing their protocol, for consultation on federal
license approvals for new radiocommunications facilities.
IMPLICATIONS
By-Law/Policy
Adopt new Policy and/or amendments to the MPS and Village SPS and both Land Use By-laws.
Financial/budgetary
None
Environmental
None
Strategic Priorities
Operational Initiatives: By-law and Policy Development
Develop Communication Tower siting policy; review MPS policy for siting cell towers (CRINS policy)
Work Program Implications
None
Has Legal review been completed? ___ Yes _X_ No __ N/A
2023-12-08
1
Municipal Flood Line Mapping
(MFLM)
$100,000 grant opportunity to conduct public engagement in
preparation for flood line data, mapping and regulations
MFLM Program
•Designed to help lower barriers for Mun’s to address and plan for inland
flooding, map hazards to avoid development in these areas and adapt to
Climate Change
•Program calls for identification, engagement and data collection followed
by a study to produce flood mapping
•The program envisions having data collected and implemented for all
Mun’s by the end of 2026 (possible extension to end of 2027)
•Partnering with Mun. Units who are willing, or Province will have data
collected on behalf if no partnership between Mun. unit and Province.
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2023-12-08
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MFLM Program
•Municipal Affairs and Housing will complete the work with funding
from Federal Gov’t (National Disaster Mitigation Program)
•This is an opportunity for MOC to partner and lead the project
•Whether or not we partner now, once the data is available, we will
need to respond (address in planning documents)
•This funding opportunity is a chance to get ahead and hire
consultants to assist in getting public buy-in, which will be essential
before introducing regulations to protect life and property from
identified flood risks.
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3
Provincial Statements of
Interest
•6 Statements: Flood Risk Areas, Drinking Water, Agricultural Land,
Infrastructure, Housing, Development of Nova Centre
•Where applicable, Mun’s must conform with Statements
•Statement on Flood Risk Areas includes 5 major watersheds (none in
MOC, but also says that where data is available, Mun’s must
implement regulations for land use)
•Data will be available by the end of the MFLM program, MOC will
then be obligated to address known flood risk areas in MPS and LUB
The Offer
•Staff from DMAH reached out to discuss funding opportunity
•Purpose of funding is to conduct public engagement and background
data collection in support of future Flood Line Mapping Study
•Up to $100,000 available to MOC, agreement must be in place by Feb.
2024 and funds used by end of fiscal 2025
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2023-12-08
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The Offer
Finalize the above lists, with focus on
extracting vulnerabilities, and past
flood history. Note specific areas of
concern for the public.
STEP 2
Meet with potential stakeholders, which may
include First Nations communities,provincial
departments,business associations, and local
associations, including watercourse protection
groups, which mayhold valuableinformation.
STEP 1
Review of land use planning documents and asset
management plans for relevant information and
data. Collect available data on historic flood
events. Hold internal discussions between
engineering, planning, EMO, and operations staff
to collect known internal information about the
area and flooding risks.Data gap analysis.
Prepare initial lists of:
Known flood mechanisms.
Available internal information.
Known areas vulnerable to
flooding.
Update the above lists, with focus on
extracting vulnerabilities, and past
flood history. Note specific areas of
concern from stakeholders.
STEP 3
Meet with the public and other interested groups.
The goal is to collect information as well as to
engage the public early in the flood mapping
process.
Funding must be used to complete
“Chapter 1” of NS MFLM
•Flow chart of main steps
•Engage First Nations
•Meet with Public
•Municipal Communications Plan
•Data Collection (consultant) –
identification of data gaps, rainfall
measurements, tidal amplification
The Offer
•Completion of Chapter 1 would make MOC “tender ready” to issue an
RFP (with support from DMAH) for flood line data to be collected and
mapped
•RFP for Flood line Data is based on Provincial technical specification
to ensure data quality and continuity between regions of the
Province.
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2023-12-08
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Work Done to Date/Past Efforts
•MOC partnered with MODL to have lidar flown, contracted CBCL to
model and present flood maps
•Project eventually completed, but concerns with the quality of the
data and modelling (up stream regions had error of +/- 35%)
•MODL began public engagement on this data and quickly cancelled
the program due to public backlash and uncertainty about data
quality
•The data collected for this work may be of use or be reviewed by new
consultant hired to complete flood line mapping for MOC
The Opportunity
•This funding is an opportunity to partner with DMAH and take a leadership role in
the work of producing flood line mapping for MOC.
•The grant provides opportunities to contract both data collection and public
engagement;
•begin discussions and information gathering from residents (historical accounts, photos,
memory)
•identifying and filling data and knowledge gaps (rainfall, flow rates etc.)
•By the end of 2026 MOC should expect to be provided with flood line mapping. It
will then be our responsibility to implement regulations that satisfy the Provincial
Statements of Interest
•If MOC chooses not to participate now, any future engagement would be at our
expense
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2023-12-08
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Clarifications
•Staff met to discuss this new funding opportunity and asked for
clarification from DMAH on several issues:
•MOC and the South Shore is in the final group of Mun. Units to go through
this work (see MFMP Map)
•Program is to be complete by 2026 (discussing extension with Fed’s for 2027)
•Technical specs for Flood Mapping RFP are provided by the Province
•If the work exceeds the $100,000 grant, there may be options to provide
exact amounts.
Staff Resource Considerations
Proceed MFLM (accept $100k grant)
•Staff time in short term (form working group,
gather existing data, manage hiring of
consultant)
•Positions MOC as the leader of the project,
more input and ability to guide the program
•Proactive, public engagement done by
consultant will increase awareness and
(hopefully) acceptance of the regulations that
are created
•Final mapping product will be higher quality by
including local knowledge, historical photos
and other info collected during public
engagement
•Less staff time in long-term with much of the
workload done by consultant with oversight by
MOC staff
Do not proceed with Flood line mapping
•Less work for staff in short-term
•Province will RFP Flood line data and provide that
to MOC
•MOC will then be obligated to regulate based on
the data provided,
•MOC will not be involved or have input in
developing the RFP or resulting mapping
•Final product may not be supported by local
community as engagement and local input was
not included in process
•Any engagement done in future years will be at
MOC expense and may be under tight timelines
to implement regulations
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Options – Next Steps (No Action)
Council determines NOT to proceed with current grant opportunity:
•Staff will advise DMAH of the decision
•No further action will be taken
•When MOC is contacted and provided with Flood Line Mapping (expected
by 2026-2027) it will be brought to Council with a staff report for discussion
on what regulations and implementation is required.
•Council would determine what public engagement is required
•Council would then provide direction on amendments to the Municipal
Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law to ensure compliance with the
Provincial Statement of Interest regarding Flood Risk Areas.
Options – Next Steps (Proceed)
If Council wishes to pursue the $100,000 grant opportunity:
•Staff will advise DMAH of the decision and organize signature of the funding agreement
•Form working group to support the project (Planning, Development, Building, Public Works, Records
Management, Communications, Corporate Services)
•Senior Planner & Manager, Sustainability & Asset Management as co-lead
•The working group will pull existing information from various departments and previous projects to provide
information on infrastructure, asset management, zoning, existing settlement patterns etc.
•Working group will oversee hiring of Consultant
•Consultant will review existing data, create an engagement plan, manage public engagement, review info
from working group and determine data gaps, document anecdotal and historical information from public,
field work to collect any missing data.
•Following the completion of the consultants work MOC will be “tender ready” to issue an RFP for Flood line
mapping (using Provincial technical specs.). It is also a possibility that the consultant hired to prepare the
background info and do public engagement may also complete the Flood Line Mapping.
13
14
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 1
DRAFT Nova Scotia Municipal
Flood Line Mapping 2023
OVERVIEW
DEPARTMENT OF MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS AND HOUSING
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 2
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Purpose ......................................................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Application and Limitations .......................................................................................................... 5
1.4 Development and Testing of the Technical Specifications ........................................................... 5
1.5 Municipal Flood Line Mapping Input Criteria and Outputs .......................................................... 5
2.0 General Process ................................................................................................................................ 7
2.1 Overall Procedure ......................................................................................................................... 7
2.2 Role of Municipalities ................................................................................................................... 7
2.2.1 Summary of process followed by municipalities .................................................................. 7
2.2.2 Water Level and Rainfall data collected by the Client .......................................................... 8
2.3 Role of Consultant ......................................................................................................................... 8
2.3.1 Identification of tidal amplification and seiching .................................................................. 9
2.4 Review Process .............................................................................................................................. 9
2.4.1 Municipal Review ................................................................................................................ 10
2.4.2 Client Engineer Review ....................................................................................................... 10
2.4.3 Approval .............................................................................................................................. 10
3.0 Statement of Provincial interest ..................................................................................................... 11
3.1 Definitions ................................................................................................................................... 11
3.2 FLOOD RISK AREAS ............................................................................................................................ 12
APPLICATION ....................................................................................................................................... 12
PROVISIONS ........................................................................................................................................ 13
4.0 GLOSSARY ........................................................................................................................................ 15
5.0 References ...................................................................................................................................... 17
Appendix A: Guidance Document
Appendix B: Technical Specifications
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 3
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Nova Scotia is one of the provinces most vulnerable to the impacts of flooding and climate change,
(Climate Change Nova Scotia, 2005), notably through the combination of land subsidence, sea level rise,
and increased precipitation. Most of the development in the province is located along the coastline or a
major watercourse, meaning that the issue of flooding is a significant concern in Nova Scotia.
One of the tools available to Municipalities to protect public safety is the development of flood maps.
Municipal Planning Strategies and Land Use By-laws can then be developed to control the type of
development that may take place within flood-prone areas. This can prevent vulnerable development
from being established in flood risk areas.
In 1999, the Province of Nova Scotia enacted regulations under the Municipal Government Act, through
the Statements of Provincial Interest (SPI), to set minimum criteria and planning standards within
floodplain areas. The regulations originally applied to five main watercourses recognized as experiencing
flooding risks, but they are also intended to apply to any newly mapped floodplain area. Section 3 of this
document reproduces the SPI to ensure the contents are understood by all parties and provides further
information on interpretation. These regulations need to be adhered to throughout the process of
developing flood maps and planning regulations.
To build on this SPI, and continue to manage this growing risk, the Province of Nova Scotia has
undertaken the development of a Municipal Flood Line Mapping Document to support the
development of flood maps throughout the Province. This document follows the Federal Hydrologic and
Hydraulic Procedures for Flood Hazard Delineation, 2019 document, which can be reviewed for further
information on the value of flood mapping and steps involved.
1.2 Purpose
The Municipal Flood Line Mapping Document is composed of the Overview document and two
Appendices. The Overview document (this document) outlines the need for flood mapping in the
province, discusses how the Statement of Provincial Interest on Flood Risk Areas applies, and provides
an overview of how the Municipal Flood Line Mapping Document was developed. It also defines the
roles of the municipality, consultant, and client engineer and provides a glossary of technical terms that
are used throughout the Overview and appendices.
The Appendix A: Guidance Document (Guidance) has been prepared to facilitate the tendering of flood
mapping studies; enabling municipalities who may not have technical flood expertise to tender, review
and adopt technically robust flood studies and mapping products. The guidance document provides
information on the typical contents of a flood mapping study, explains minimum specified standards in
plain language, and describes additional flood factors that should be considered if they are present in
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 4
the study area. The guidance document will allow municipalities to select flood factors, or flood
mechanisms, that are relevant to the specific area being studied and include a stakeholder and
community-based input. Tendering authorities are expected to be mainly municipal governments but
may also be planning commissions or the Provincial Government. The tendering authority is referred to
as the municipality in all these documents for simplicity.
The Appendix B: Technical Specifications (Technical Specifications) provides flood mapping criteria to
establish an acceptable level of quality for the analysis and deliverables, as well as provide consistency
between studies. The specification document is intended to become part of the Request for Proposals
tender documents, to which the selected consultant must adhere. It is intended to allow a clearer and
simpler scope definition, procurement process, consultant selection, review of the study, and delivery of
product. This is expected to be a benefit to municipalities and the Province, as well as to consultants,
who will have a more consistent set of standards with which to work.
In addition to the appendices that make up the Municipal Flood Line Mapping Document there is a
Climate Change Standard (Standard) which is referenced but remains separate from this document. The
Standard is comprised of the Standard for the incorporation of climate change into riverine and coastal
flood mapping in Nova Scotia and the associated supporting documents. This Standard was developed
prior to the Municipal Flood Line Mapping Document and was key in its development.
The Technical Specifications directly references the Standard, but the specific numbers and rates of
change are not provided. This is to ensure consultants are reviewing the climate change documents and
have a full understanding of the context and complexity. It also allows each document to be updated
independently as climate science is continually evolving and new data and better modeling is available.
To create the Climate Change Standard, the Government of Nova Scotia consulted with multiple
academic institutions in recognition of the need to obtain expert input. An interdisciplinary working
group comprised of researchers in various fields was formed. These fields included: municipal planning,
water resources engineering, coastal hydraulics, and climatology.
Upon formation of the expert working group, members were allocated the task of conducting literature
reviews on topics within their expertise areas and relevant to the climate change standard. Four primary
topic areas were identified:
- Planning Horizons and Considerations
- Global Climate Models and Downscaling Approaches
- Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge Projections
- Future Climate Intensity-Duration-Frequency Relationships
From these four topic areas a climate change standard was developed. The objective of the standard is
to develop a consistent framework for the incorporation of future climate changes into riverine and
coastal flood mapping in Nova Scotia. The framework was developed with the intention of providing a
scientifically defensible, consensus-based approach that is practical to implement.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 5
1.3 Application and Limitations
The Appendix A: Guidance Document explains a recommended approach to engaging stakeholders and
tendering a flood mapping study and provides municipalities various options to include in their study.
An important component of the Guidance is to present and describe the various potential flood
mechanisms that may exist and propose a step-by-step approach to identifying the flood mechanisms to
include in the study. The Guidance does not contain details of the technical elements. If a municipality
would like to have a deeper understanding of what is expected from consultants, they should refer to
the Technical Specifications.
The Appendix B: Technical Specifications sets out descriptions of the methods to be followed and
proposes reference documents to use to effectively apply those methods. It is intended to create a
minimum acceptable level of quality, as well as impart some consistency in the approaches taken across
the Province. This document also presents the rationale for the methods selected and the approaches
specified. The specifications themselves may not account for every foreseeable flood type,
however, the process allows for flexibility to account for local flood mechanisms and specific
requirements of a municipality, as well as the ability for consultants to use their best professional
judgement when carrying out the flood mapping.
The Climate Change Standard is meant to be applied to the planning horizons set out in the document
and within the context of land use planning. Though it has potential application to other contexts, these
would not be the intended purpose. The Standard also is limited by the scientific knowledge and tools
available at the time of its formation. Due to the rapidly evolving nature of climate science the Standard
needs to be periodically updated with new information and tools as they become available. Currently,
there are significant uncertainties in climate change projections. Throughout the Standard, the
precautionary principle was applied to address these uncertainties.
1.4 Development and Testing of the Technical Specifications
The Technical Specifications began development in the Summer of 2019 and went through several drafts
and reviews. In November 2019, a draft of the Technical Specifications was provided to three
consultants for each to implement in a different test case watershed of the province. The consultants
provided feedback on the Technical Specifications and their experience implementing in their respective
test case. Those comments were then received by the Province and incorporated into the current
version of the Municipal Flood Line Mapping Document.
1.5 Municipal Flood Line Mapping Input Criteria and Outputs
Nova Scotia is a province with wide ranging topographic, hydrologic, soil, and coastal characteristics, and
the Municipal Flood Line Mapping Document presents an adaptable approach that allows municipalities
to customize the analysis to include the more relevant factors influencing flooding risks in their study area.
This allows a more effective approach in terms of both quality and level of effort.
While many of the criteria are set as specifications, the selection of the flood processes component is
typically based on professional judgement. Some of this judgement will be made by the municipality,
supported by information obtained from stakeholders and the community, but the much of the judgement
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 6
will remain with the consultant carrying out the flood mapping. For example, more complex mechanisms
may exist in the study area, such as tidal amplification, which can not be easily discerned by the
municipality. Similarly, it may not be necessary to include an analysis of dam operation if it is confirmed
that the operational procedure for the dam is to allow storms to flow through uncontrolled.
The outputs from the flood line mapping exercise will be a series of maps that portray flood risk today
and into the future as accurately as possible given the data available. This type of information is
considered a valuable tool to protect public safety and the maps will provide a clear visual tool for the
municipality to use as a guide as they develop and implement planning policy or other measures. The
maps produced will note the potential flood extents and depths and include hazard mapping, which is a
measure of hazard (in this case, depth of water multiplied by the velocity) and can be categorized into 3
different classes (Table 1).
Table 1 Hazard classification according to depth and velocity
Class Values in
Depth (m) x Velocity (m/s)
Level of danger
Class 1 0.5 to 1.5 Danger to some
Class 2 1.5 to 2.5 Danger to most
Class 3 Above 2.5 Danger to all
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 7
2.0 GENERAL PROCESS
2.1 Overall Procedure
A general flow chart of steps, roles and responsibilities is presented below. The objective is to simplify
and clarify the process to allow:
- Consistency in the development of flood studies across the province while providing flexibility
for each study to include only the relevant causes of flooding (flood mechanisms).
- Enable municipalities to have better access to expertise in flood studies and obtain a study that
is scientifically robust and can support land use planning.
2.2 Role of Municipalities
2.2.1 Summary of process followed by municipalities
For the study scope to be meaningful and representative of the actual flood mechanisms that exist in
the watercourse, the municipality will have undertaken a number of steps to try to identify the main
causes of flooding, as well as the key vulnerabilities in the system. Early identification of the sources of
flooding risks allows the study to focus on the key representative aspects. The data and information
listed below can be collected directly by the municipality or contracted out as one or more separate
studies. If this information has not been collected prior to writing the RFP, it can also be included in the
scope of work for the flood mapping study.
To support the study, the municipality should have:
- Gathered information on the local experience of flooding from municipal staff, Emergency
Management Office, First Nations communities, provincial departments, business associations,
and local associations (e.g., salmon association, watercourse protection group, etc.), as well as
the public and any other interested group.
- Identified vulnerabilities along the watercourse and filled out the “Additional Mechanisms
Checklist” for inclusion in the scope of work1.
- Collected water level and rainfall data to help identify flood mechanisms and support model
calibration.
In addition to the above data and information, the municipality should gather any applicable plans,
bylaws, policy, regulations, and reports that would be relevant to flood mapping. This will provide the
consultant with the planning context for the study area. Maps and GIS data, especially relating to
current and future land use in the municipality will be instrumental in defining the level of granularity
needed in the flood line maps and in the development of the hazard maps.
1 Note: The checklist for municipalities is provided in Appendix A: Guidance Document.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 8
2.2.2 Water Level and Rainfall data collected by the Client
Any water level and rainfall data collected prior to developing the RFP for the flood mapping study will
help the municipality identify some of the additional flood mechanisms. This data will also be useful in
the flood line mapping study by providing calibration data for the models.
Local, anecdotal knowledge collected by the Municipality may produce an understanding of the
presence of the most common flooding mechanisms (floods associated with snowmelt or ice jams for
example), but may not shed light on some more complex mechanisms, such as tidal amplification or
seiching. Such mechanisms can typically be detected by analysing water level measurements at the site
or by the coast and comparing them with expected peak tide levels from the closest harbour with tidal
information available from the Canadian Hydrographic Service. If the municipality has the capacity to do
this it is encouraged, but it is likely that these complex mechanisms will need to be identified by
professionals familiar with the related processes.
Official sources of data on rainfall and water levels do not adequately cover the entire province for the
purposes of flood line mapping. It is entirely possible that only sparse rainfall data may be available for
the area of interest. Additionally, water level data may not be available from the Environment Canada
flow gauging stations as these often only collect flow data. To supplement existing sources of data,
municipalities should endeavour to collect rainfall and water level measurements upstream of the tidal
influence prior to the outset of the flood mapping study. As suggested previously, this may require a
separate study.
To provide consistent data to support model calibration, measurements should adhere to the following
parameters:
1. Measurements should be taken for a duration of at least 3 months at a minimum, in the period
between the months of October to May (to avoid the summer dry and calm conditions).
2. Rainfall measurements collected with a rain gauge capable of obtaining 5-minute interval
rainfall measurements. The rain gauge will be placed in the watershed of the watercourse
studied.
3. Collect water level measurements related to the CGVD2013 geodetic vertical datum upstream of
the tidal influence, close to the study area.
4. Water level measurements close to the study area but within the tidal influence at CGVD2013
geodetic vertical datum.
A municipality may want to engage an independent client engineer who can manage data collection and
stakeholder engagement, as well as review the final flood mapping report.
2.3 Role of Consultant
The consultant’s responsibility is to carry out the flood study following the Technical Specifications. This
includes any mechanisms identified in the “Additional Mechanisms Checklist”. The methodology the
consultant must follow is laid out explicitly in the Technical Specifications, but there is room for the
consultant to use their professional judgement. The goal should be to provide the municipality with the
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 9
best result considering budget, data availability, and timeline constraints. However, to provide
consistency in flood mapping across the province it is important to follow the methods as closely as
possible, and to provide justification, if not followed. This will help not only the municipality, but also
the Province and the client engineer reviewer to understand the results of the study.
Once the consultant has been selected, they will work with the municipality to confirm that the
additional mechanisms identified in the Statement of Work are applicable and identify any data gaps
that will need to be filled before or concurrent with the flood mapping study.
2.3.1 Identification of tidal amplification and seiching
The municipality may have already identified tidal amplification and/or sieching within the study area
and included it in the Statement of Work. Regardless, the consultant will need to take any required
water level measurements within the tidal influence, graph, and compare them to the tidal predictions
from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) for the closest site. The DFO data needs to be converted from
Chart Datum to CGVD2013 to compare to the measurements. If the peak water levels are different, this
indicates the presence of tidal amplification or seiching. Tidal amplification consists of increased tidal
height peaks, while seiching consists of oscillations that continue to occur outside of the tidal peaks
(several peaks between high tide times). If any of those mechanisms have been detected and were not
originally included in the Statement of work, they should be incorporated through an amendment.
2.4 Review Process
Review Process
Municipal Review
Client Engineer Review
Approval
For the process of producing scientifically defendable flood lines to be effective, a review of the analysis
and results is necessary. It is suggested that a multi-stage process be conducted:
1. The municipality will review the report and provide comments on any apparent differences between
the Technical Specifications and the draft report. It may be that some of the differences are justified,
however the consultant would need to have provided a rationale for the changes.
2. A third, independent party will be contracted as a client engineer. Their responsibility will be to
compare the analysis with the Technical Specifications to ensure consistency in approach and in
methods used, as well as possibly identify any potential issues or concerns. Note that this client
engineer could also have other responsibilities such as managing data collection and stakeholder
engagement.
3. The consultant will address any of the concerns raised by the municipality and the client engineer.
This may require further justification for any deviation from the Technical Specifications or
additional work to correct errors or oversights.
4. The municipality will conduct a final review before accepting the flood line mapping study. Since the
study will ultimately belong to the municipality and will be used to inform future planning efforts it
is important that they have a complete understanding of what they will be receiving.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 10
The objective of the review process is to ensure consistency between the Technical Specifications and
the flood mapping study analysis, report, and maps. The Technical Specifications and the “Additional
Mechanisms Checklist” will be the basis for review of the deliverables.
2.4.1 Municipal Review
The municipality will review the deliverables to ensure:
- The various items requested are included in the deliverables.
- The analysis appears to include the various mechanisms requested.
- The report is clear and well written.
- The maps are readable, and the GIS files can be opened and are in the correct format.
- The report generally meets the expectations of the municipality.
2.4.2 Client Engineer Review
The client engineer review shall check the deliverable for consistency with the Technical Specifications
document and the Checklist. It is understood that the review is not expected to check every detail of the
modelling nor validate the actual flood lines, but rather review the process, model general parameters,
and results. If the consultant proposed alternative modeling methods and provided rationale, the client
engineer should have the capacity to understand if these changes meet the intent of the Technical
Specifications.
The review will include the report, maps, GIS files, and the model files or a set of tables with the main
model parameters. More specifically, the review shall include comments on:
- Overall quality of reporting.
- The approach to the various analyses of the minimum requirements.
- The approach to the various analyses of the different flood mechanisms.
- The main model parameters (runoff, losses, overflows, roughness, geometry).
- Calibration of the model(s).
- Whether the results fall within expected values (runoff coefficients for example).
- Whether the reporting and mapping meet the specifications for deliverables, and any
outstanding element(s).
- If it is recommended that further detail be provided, or further analysis be carried out.
It is recommended that the review by the client engineer be conducted during the study period, and not
once the study is completed. In this manner, any issue that arises can be discussed and resolved before
the study is resumed. This will greatly simplify and accelerate the review process. The onus is therefore
on both the study consultant (to let the consultant engineer review when any issue arises) and the
consultant engineer reviewer (to keep track of the study progress and ask relevant questions), to ensure
the process can be effective.
2.4.3 Approval
The formal acceptance of the report and flood maps by both the municipality and the consultant
engineer, will be required before the final report is approved.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 11
3.0 STATEMENT OF PROVINCIAL INTEREST
This chapter presents the Statement of Provincial Interest (SPI) on Flooding Risk Areas, to provide the
supporting regulations for the development of municipal flood mapping. This chapter provides
information on how municipalities should apply the provisions of the SPI on Flood Risk Areas and
discusses how planning regulations are to be implemented as a minimum within the floodplains. The
primary goal of the regulations is to protect public safety.
Statements of Provincial Interest outline the province's vision for protecting Nova Scotia's land and
water resources. They also address issues related to the growth of our communities. Statements of
provincial interest are adopted as regulations under the Municipal Government Act.
Statements of Provincial Interest regarding Flood Risks Areas were made under Section 193 and
subsections 194(2) and (5) of the Municipal Government Act, S.N.S. 1998, c. 18. N.S. Reg. 101/2001
(April 1, 1999). They can be found through the following link:
https://novascotia.ca/just/regulations/regs/mgstmt.htm#text
The text below is current as of May 2022.
3.1 Definitions
These definitions apply to the Statements of Provincial Interest.
Floodplain means the low-lying area adjoining a watercourse.
Floodproofed means a measure or combination of structural and non-structural measures incorporated
into the design of a structure which reduces or eliminates the risk of flood damage, usually to a defined
elevation.
Floodway means the inner portion of a flood risk area where the risk of flooding is greatest, on average
once in twenty years, and where flood depths and velocities are greatest.
Floodway Fringe means the outer portion of a flood risk area, between the floodway and the outer
boundary of the flood risk area, where the risk of flooding is lower, on average once in one hundred
years, and floodwaters are shallower and slower flowing.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 12
3.2 FLOOD RISK AREAS
APPLICATION
Under the Canada–Nova Scotia Flood Damage Reduction
Program (FDRP), five rivers in the province were
designated and mapped during the 1980s. These rivers
were considered at that time the most significant in the
province in terms of flood risk as it related to the
amount of existing development and the likelihood for
flooding. Hence, they posed a high potential for flood
damage. An important condition in the federal-
provincial FDRP agreement was that any new
development in a designated flood risk area was not
eligible for government flood damage assistance. An
integral part of this program was the mapping of the
flood risk areas on these five rivers.
Numerous other areas in the province are known to be
subject to flooding, including many watercourses and
coastal floodplains. “Watercourses,” as defined in
legislation refers to “a lake, river, stream, ocean or other
body of water” (MGA s.191(r) [Charter s.209(s)]).
Documentation of flooding events in these areas varies
in type and extent. In areas without flood mapping,
documentation can take the form of historical records,
such as narrative descriptions, photographs, and
recorded flood marks on buildings or structures. If such
or some other documentation is available, a municipality
should attempt to develop models or scenarios
regarding the flooding. For example, historical
documentation, such as photos and recorded flood
levels, could be used to develop elevation maps to help
define flood areas.
Municipalities are also encouraged to undertake
scientific studies to more precisely document flood risk
in areas not covered by the FDRP mapping. If a
municipality identifies in its planning documents locally
known floodplains (non-FDRP flood risk areas), and
establishes land-use controls for these areas, care
should be taken to ensure that these controls can be
justified. The rationale for these land-use controls
should be set out in policy in the planning documents.
FLOOD RISK AREAS
GOAL: To protect public safety and
property and to reduce the requirement
for flood control works and flood damage
restoration in floodplains.
BASIS
1.Floodplains are nature's storage area
for flood waters.
2.New development in a floodplain can
increase flood levels and flows thereby
increasing the threat to existing
upstream and downstream
development.
3.Five floodplains have been identified
as Flood Risk Areas under the Canada-
Nova Scotia Flood Damage Reduction
Program.
APPLICATION: This statement applies to all
Flood Risk Areas that are designated under
the Canada-Nova Scotia Flood Damage
Reduction Program. These are:
(1) East River, Pictou County,
(2) Little Sackville River, Halifax County,
(3) Sackville River, Halifax County,
(4) Salmon and North Rivers, Colchester
County, and
(5) West and Rights Rivers and Brierly
Brook, Antigonish County.
There are other areas in the Province that
are subject to flooding which have not
been mapped under the Canada-Nova
Scotia Flood Damage Reduction Program.
In these areas, the limits of potential
flooding have not been scientifically
determined. However, where local
knowledge or information concerning
these floodplains is available, planning
documents should reflect this information
and this statement.
MGA Schedule B
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 13
PROVISIONS
1) The first step is to identify any FDRP and other flood risk areas within
the municipality and delineate them on maps in the planning
documents. These maps should identify the areas in terms of both the
floodway and floodway fringe. FDRP areas should be dealt with
separately from other flood risk areas since the federal-provincial
agreement specifies there will be no government flood damage
assistance for new developments in FDRP flood risk areas.
2) a) (i) This provision applies only to the flood risk areas for the five
rivers that were designated under the FDRP. Each flood risk area is
divided into two sub-areas: floodway and floodway fringe. The
floodway is the area where flooding will be the deepest, with the fastest
flow and greatest potential for damage. The floodway has a 5 per cent
chance of being flooded in any given year. More stringent restrictions
should be placed on development in the floodway, including prohibiting
permanent structures and restricting land uses to activities that would
create minimal impact. Permitted uses could include those involving the
following:
• cropland
• recreation and open spaces (athletic fields, golf courses, parks)
• utility or service corridors (underground piped infrastructure)
• mobile enterprises (those easily moved in case of flooding, such
as a mobile canteen or flea market)
• seasonal activities (permitted only when the potential for
flooding is low)
• minimal impact activities (will not alter flood patterns and rates,
or the capacity of the floodplain)
2) a) (ii) Placing fill in a flood risk area can alter the flow patterns and
rates of floodwaters, as well as the storage capacity of the floodplain
itself. Adding new fill reduces the storage capacity and increases the
likelihood that lands previously not subject to flooding will be flooded.
Hence, a municipality’s planning documents must prohibit the placing
of off-site fill in the floodway.
b) (i) Flooding is less likely to occur in the floodway fringe than in the
floodway, and when floods do occur the depth and speed of the
floodwaters is also less. The floodway fringe has a 1 per cent chance of
being flooded in any given year. Buildings and structures for certain uses
may be permitted, provided they are built in a way that minimizes the
impact. Since ice floes are often associated with flooding in Nova Scotia,
the design of structures should take this into account.
FLOOD RISK AREAS
PROVISIONS
1) Planning documents
must identify Flood Risk
Areas consistent with the
Canada-Nova Scotia Flood
Damage Reduction
Program mapping and any
locally known floodplain.
2) For Flood Risk Areas
that have been mapped
under the Canada-Nova
Scotia Flood Damage
Reduction Program
planning documents must
be reasonably consistent
with the following:
a) within the Floodway,
(i) development must be
restricted to uses such as
roads, open space uses,
utility and service
corridors, parking lots and
temporary uses, and
(ii) the placement of off-
site fill must be
prohibited;
(b) within the Floodway
Fringe,
(i) development, provided
it is flood proofed, may be
permitted, except for
MGA Schedule B
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 14
2) b) (i)
(1) Concern about the possible damage or destruction of buildings
and property is one of the reasons for the statement on Flood Risk
Areas. Some uses, such as for emergency services or care facilities,
should not be permitted in the floodway fringe, since access is
always essential.
(2) Additionally, allowing hazardous materials to be stored or
produced in a floodway fringe could pose serious health and
environmental risks. Uses associated with these materials,
including petrochemical storage, must be prohibited in the
floodway fringe.
2) b) (ii) Since floodwaters are shallower and slower-moving in the
floodway fringe, the placement of off-site fill when raising the
elevation of the ground under and around a building to provide
floodproofing is acceptable. Off-site fill can also be used for dyke
construction, flood control, or improving the flow of floodwaters.
3) This applies to FDRP mapped areas but can be applied to other
known floodplains. The objective of this provision is to maintain
the storage capacity of the floodplain and prevent alteration of
floodwater flow. This can be achieved by limiting building and
structure expansions to vertical additions through development
agreements or site-plan control.
4) This pertains to flood risk areas that have not been designated
under the FDRP. At a minimum, the requirements of a flood fringe
area should be used for these flood risk areas. However, using
flood fringe requirements does not preclude a municipality from
establishing more stringent requirements if more detailed
information (such as flood risk mapping) or local conditions
warrant doing so.
5) This applies to both FDRP and other flood risk areas. It enables
a municipality to permit development if a hydrotechnical study
demonstrates that doing so will not increase flooding or change
flow patterns. A hydrotechnical study is a specialized scientific
investigation of water flows and factors contributing to floods
(e.g., tides, ice, storm surges, etc.).
Municipalities with flood risk areas mapped under the FDRP
should not assume that the approved FDRP mapping or the
conditions that apply under that program to those lands will
change because of the hydrotechnical study. Additional matters,
related to factors such as climate change and development that
has occurred in the last 30 years or more since the creation of the
mapping, might cause the areas of concern to expand.
FLOOD RISK AREAS
PROVISIONS
2) b) (i) (cont.)
(1) residential institutions such
as hospitals, senior citizen
homes, homes for special care
and similar facilities where
flooding could pose a
significant threat to the safety
of residents if evacuation
became necessary, and
(2) any use associated with the
warehousing or the production
of hazardous materials,
(ii) the placement of off-site fill
must be limited to that
required for flood proofing or
flood risk management.
3) Expansion of existing uses
must be balanced against risks
to human safety, property and
increased upstream and
downstream flooding. Any
expansion in the Floodway
must not increase the area of
the structure at or below the
required flood proof elevation.
4) For known floodplains that
have not been mapped under
the Canada-Nova Scotia Flood
Damage Reduction Program,
planning documents should
be, at a minimum, reasonably
consistent with the provisions
applicable to the Floodway
Fringe.
5) Development contrary to
this statement may be
permitted provided a
hydrotechnical study, carried
out by a qualified person,
shows that the proposed
development will not
contribute to upstream or
downstream flooding or result
in a change to flood water flow
patterns.
MGA Schedule B
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 15
4.0 GLOSSARY
Flood mechanisms: These are specific causes of flooding, identified by the processes that take place,
and lead to flooding. For example, intense rainfall is a flood mechanism. Other, less obvious causes may
also exist, such as jamming of a drainage gate by sediment or debris.
Vulnerabilities: Vulnerabilities as discussed in these documents include land use, infrastructure, or
services that would be negatively impacted by flooding.
Tidal amplification: Tidal amplification consists of the increase in tidal peak water levels, caused by the
funnelling effect of a cone-shaped inlet.
Seiching: Seiching consists of oscillations, sometimes very large, that continue to occur outside of the
tidal peaks (several peaks between high tide times). The Bay of Fundy is an example of very large scale
seiching, where the oscillation time matches the time between tides.
Return period: The return period of an event is the average number of years, in the long term, between
events of a given magnitude. An event with a return period of 100 years is denoted as a 1 in 100-year
event. The return period may be more clearly explained in terms of its probability of occurrence (or
Annual Exceedance Probability or AEP): a 1 in 100-year event has a 1% probability of occurrence in any
given year. The fact that an event of large magnitude has occurred in the recent past does not change
this probability. Similarly, a 1 in 20-year event has a 5% probability of occurrence in any given year.
Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves: An Intensity-Duration-Frequency curve is a tool that helps
engineers calculate flows and water levels, and design safe structures to a consistent level of risk
protection. It is the result of a statistical analysis of long-term rainfall data that relates the duration of
rainfall events to their peak intensities, for a given frequency of occurrence. It is used to produce a
historically representative estimate of a rainfall event with a given frequency of occurrence or return
period.
Wave setup - the increase in mean water level, due to the presence of breaking waves. It is typically a
non-negligible component of the storm surge in exposed areas with wide beaches. Essentially an
increase in the storm surge water level against the shore.
Wave runup - the vertical extent of the wave uprush on the coastline slope, which can lead to erosion
and local flooding.
Wave overtopping - For areas with built coastal defences, the amount of water discharged over a
coastal defense structure.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 16
Lidar: Lidar is a method for measuring distances by illuminating the target with laser light and measuring
the reflection with a sensor. Differences in laser return times and wavelengths can then be used to make
digital 3-D representations of the target. Lidar data are represented as a 3D point cloud.
Topographic Data: Topographic data are information about the elevation of the surface of the Earth.
There are two main ways to represent topographic data on a map. The first represents information on a
topographic quadrangle map, with contour lines, roads, streams, railroads, towns, etc. The second uses
grids of data, for which each cell in the grid represents the elevation at a certain point on the Earth. Grid
data are commonly referred to as Digital Elevation Models or DEMs.
Bathymetric Data: Bathymetric data are the underwater equivalent of topographic data. It is generally
collected using bathymetric lidar in shallower water and multibeam sonar in deep water. Using sonar,
depth is estimated by measuring the time it takes for a beam of sound to travel from a sounder at the
surface of the water to the seafloor or riverbed and be reflected to the sounder.
Hydrologic Analysis: A hydrologic analysis allows the estimation of runoff flows from a watershed into a
watercourse. It is not intended to produce water levels, only flows. A hydrologic analysis can be
conducted at a single point, or at many points.
Hydraulic Modelling: Hydraulic modelling is the assessment of water levels in a hydraulic conveyance
system (e.g., river) that are reached when flows are entered into this system. Water levels will be
dependent on factors such as channel shape, slope, roughness, bends, constructions, storage, structures
(e.g., dams), etc.
Calibration: Model calibration is the process of reproducing measured flows and water levels using only
climate data (and tidal water levels if needed) as input for a model run. The objective is to adjust the
hydrologic and hydraulic models to be representative of the watershed and drainage system, so that it
can produce realistic estimates of peak water levels during extreme events. Calibration is conducted by
first identifying the most representative measured flood events, which are typically those closest to the
design events (the 5% AEP and 1% AEP events). Rainfall, flow, and when possible, water level data are
collected, and the model is run to see if the model results match the recorded flows and water levels
(including the accreting and receding limbs). If this is not the case, the model parameters must be
adjusted to allow the model to match the measured curves closely as possible. The adjustment process,
however, is the core of the calibration effort.
CGVD2013 geodetic vertical datum: This height reference system replaced the Canadian Geodetic
Vertical Datum of 1928 (CGVD28), which was adopted in 1935. CGVD2013 is defined by the
equipotential surface ( W0=62,636,856.0 m2s-2 ), which represents the coastal mean sea level for North
America. CGVD2013 corrects for the distortions in CGVD28 that range from -65 cm and +55 cm,
nationally. The largest absolute changes are be in the Maritimes where the new datum will be higher by
65 cm, meaning lower elevations for the region.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping 17
5.0 REFERENCES
Jamieson, R., Kurylyk, B., Rapaport, E., Manuel, P., Van Proosdij, D., Beltrami, H., Hayward, J., KarisAllen,
J., Clark, K., Tusz, C., Jahncke, R., García-García, A., & Cuesta-Valero, F.,J. (2019). Standard for the
incorporation of climate change into riverine and coastal flood mapping in Nova Scotia. Technical report
prepared for the Government of Nova Scotia. Halifax, Nova Scotia.
K.Clark, , C.Tusz, P.Manuel, E.Rapaport. School of Planning, Dalhousie University, Municipal Flood Line
Mapping: Planning Horizons and Considerations, Final Report, March 2019.
MacLaren Atlantic Ltd, Regional flood frequency analysis for mainland Nova Scotia streams, Canada-
Nova Scotia Flood Damage Reduction Program, 1980
DRAFT Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping
Appendix A: Guidance Document
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix A: Guidance Document i
Contents
CHAPTER 1 General Process ......................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3
1.2 Steps to be taken by the Municipality ................................................................................ 3
1.2.1 Flow chart of main steps ......................................................................................... 3
1.2.2 Engaging First Nations Communities ...................................................................... 5
1.2.3 Meeting with the public .......................................................................................... 6
1.2.4 Recommendations for Municipal Communications ............................................... 7
1.3 Water level and rainfall measurements ........................................................................... 10
1.3.1 Role of a consultant before the Flood Study to support preparing the RFP ........ 10
1.3.2 Identification of tidal amplification and seiching ................................................. 10
CHAPTER 2 Minimum Specified Standards .................................................................................. 12
2.1 Return period or frequency of flood events to analyse .................................................... 12
2.2 Projection Horizons for the analysis of future flood events ............................................. 12
2.3 Required Analysis Scenarios ............................................................................................. 13
2.3.1 Precipitation: ........................................................................................................ 13
2.3.2 Coastal Water Levels: ........................................................................................... 13
CHAPTER 3 List of Potential Flood Mechanisms .......................................................................... 14
3.1 Criteria and Roles for Selecting Mechanisms ................................................................... 14
3.2 Checklist of Flood Mechanisms ........................................................................................ 15
3.3 Mechanisms Relevant in Riverine Floodplains ................................................................. 16
3.4 Mechanisms Relevant in Coastal Floodplains ................................................................... 18
3.5 Mechanisms Relevant in Estuarine Floodplains ............................................................... 19
3.6 Mechanisms Relevant to Future and Climate Change Conditions ................................... 19
3.6.1 Additional development scenarios ....................................................................... 19
3.6.2 Risk-Based analysis ............................................................................................... 20
CHAPTER 4 Tendering & Implementation ................................................................................... 21
4.1 Tendering .......................................................................................................................... 21
4.2 Required qualifications of consulting firms ...................................................................... 21
4.3 Contracting the a client engineer ..................................................................................... 22
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix A: Guidance Document ii
4.4 Municipal Review .............................................................................................................. 22
4.4.1 Reporting deliverables .......................................................................................... 22
4.4.2 Mapping Deliverables ........................................................................................... 23
4.5 Approval Process .............................................................................................................. 24
4.6 Next Steps ......................................................................................................................... 24
Additional Information..................................................................................................................... 28
Media Analysis: Perspectives On Flood Mapping ............................................................................... 28
Thematic Coding Results .................................................................................................................. 28
Social Science Interpretations Of Media Discourse ............................................................................ 31
Social Leverage Points For Better Public Discourse ............................................................................ 32
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix A: Guidance Document 3
CHAPTER 1 GENERAL PROCESS
1.1 Introduction
Nova Scotia is a province with wide ranging topographic, hydrologic, soil, sediment and coastal
characteristics, this document presents an adaptable approach that allows municipalities to customize the
analysis to the more relevant factors that influence flooding risks. Flood scenarios associated with a
specific return period need to produce flood extents that are based on reasonably foreseeable
mechanisms that generate high water levels, for that return period.
The steps outlined in the Guidance document will allow the municipality to identify the mechanisms that
together produce conditions that would occur in the watercourse during floods. Careful consideration of
the various flood mechanisms that may exist in the study area will allow the generation of flood extents
that are representative of the actual floods experienced at the site.
The following sections describe the process to be followed by the municipality through the project. It
includes a description of each step that will support the selection of flood mechanisms. They can then
be checked in the Checklist presented in Chapter 5 and included in the Request for Proposals for the
flood mapping study, to form the Scope of Work.
1.2 Steps to be taken by the Municipality
1.2.1 Flow chart of main steps
Following the expression of need for a flood study, the municipality will need to review current land use
planning documents, as well as existing and future land use maps. This will help define the level of study
needed in various parts of the watershed. The municipality should use the following general steps to
inform and prepare the RFP document. The municipality may want to solicit expertise in public
consultation to carry out those steps, collect, and report the information shared. The flow chart
presented in Figure 1 provides steps that will allow for RFPs to be developed that include relevant
information for the flood studies. Initial steps to support the identification of flood mechanisms and the
development of the RFP are listed in Figure 1.
For the study scope to be meaningful and representative of the existing flood mechanisms, it is
important that the municipality take steps to identify the main causes of flooding and key vulnerabilities
in the system. The central purpose of the flood mapping study is to provide support for future
development regulations in the floodplain areas. Therefore, the flood maps need to be informed by the
local experience of flooding and show the vulnerabilities along the watercourse or coast. The earlier the
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 4
stakeholders, community members, and the public are involved in the process, the more likely the new
flood lines and associated regulations will be readily adopted. If there are First Nations communities that
share the watershed, the municipality or its representatives will need to meet with them to share and
gather information. Additional considerations when engaging First Nations communities is included in
Section 1.2.2.
Even if accurate flood maps indicating high-risk zones are maintained, it is necessary to gain public
support to turn these maps into action. Media and public discourse demonstrate that public
perspectives can complicate the rollout of flood mapping. Flood mapping initiatives and outputs need to
be communicated in a way that builds public buy-in and constructive engagement, while avoiding
pushing people into defensive positions. Information relating to communication strategies and various
perceptions to be aware of, before the coordination of the various meetings, is presented in Sections
1.2.3 and 1.2.4.
In addition to historical and anecdotal information on flooding, water level data will need to be collected
to better inform the identification of flood mechanisms. It is understood that most municipalities will
not have the capacity to carry out this work and will need to obtain consulting services to support the
collection and interpretation of water level data and the identification of relevant flood mechanisms. A
data gap analysis before or during the initial stages of the project will help determine what additional
data gathering may be required before accurate flood lines can be developed. At minimum the findings
of the data gap analysis should be included in the final report so that limitations of the modelling can be
understood and planning for future flood line mapping can incorporate additional data gathering.
In Step 2 of Figure 1, vulnerabilities are discussed. Vulnerabilities in this context specifically relate to
land use, infrastructure, or services that would be negatively impacted by flooding. A few examples
include: residential areas, hazardous material storage, contaminated sites, emergency and long-term
care facilities, emergency vehicle parking, daycares, farmland that would be damaged by saltwater,
bridges, dykes, shorelines that are eroding close to buildings, roadways servicing emergency response
and long-term care, communications, drinking water, power supply, etc.
It is important to identify vulnerabilities prior to initiating the study, such that discussions can be held to
identify which vulnerabilities are sufficiently important to influence the flood mapping study. For
example, if a hospital is close to a potential floodplain, special consideration should be given to
understanding the flood risks at that location. Considerations could include:
• Looking at less apparent, but still potentially damaging, flood mechanisms
• Selecting more conservative parameters in the flood model
• Including scenarios that may be less likely (e.g. higher growth future development scenarios,
upgrade of hydraulic structures, etc.), but that could lead to increased flooding at the site.
Following this, a municipality will use all the information gathered to decide which flood mechanisms to
include in the study. Note that there will be another opportunity to review this selection at the
beginning of the flood mapping project during discussions with the selected consultant.
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 5
Figure 1: Steps Prior to Conducting the Flood Study to Support Development of the RFP
1.2.2 Engaging First Nations Communities
Land management issues are a key area of concern for many First Nations communities because their
cultural practices, traditions, spirituality, and well-being have always been intricately linked to the land.
Access to land and participating in land use decision making processes is sought by First Nations
communities for purposes of nourishing their cultures, helping to exist sustainably, and acquiring
communal benefits from lands and resources.
First Nations hold a wealth of knowledge about the diversity and interactions among plant and animal
species, landforms, watercourses, and other biophysical features. Municipalities and consultants may
benefit from this knowledge as they define the flooding mechanisms prevalent in the study watershed.
However, the capacity of First Nation communities to engage varies and can be limited; decision-makers
may hold multiple positions in their communities and often seek input from the membership before a
decision is made. Consideration and time should be allowed for decision makers to juggle roles and
Finalize the above lists, with focus
on extracting vulnerabilities, and
past flood history. Note specific
areas of concern for the public.
STEP 2
Meet with potential stakeholders, which may
include First Nations communities, provincial
departments, business associations, and local
associations, including watercourse protection
groups, which may hold valuable information.
STEP 1
Review of land use planning documents and asset
management plans for relevant information and
data. Collect available data on historic flood
events. Hold internal discussions between
engineering, planning, EMO, and operations staff
to collect known internal information about the
area and flooding risks. Data gap analysis.
Prepare initial lists of:
Known flood mechanisms.
Available internal information.
Known areas vulnerable to
flooding.
Update the above lists, with focus
on extracting vulnerabilities, and
past flood history. Note specific
areas of concern from stakeholders.
STEP 3
Meet with the public and other interested groups.
The goal is to collect information as well as to
engage the public early in the flood mapping
process.
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 6
consult community members. Municipalities and consultants should factor this into their project
timelines.
Early engagement demonstrates commitment from the municipality and consultants and builds the First
Nation’s connection to the project as they see their contributions and input shaping its outcomes. Early
engagement also provides greater opportunities for the development of resulting land use plans that
avoid impacts to Aboriginal interests and are more responsive to the broader interests and values of the
First Nation. While there is no standard formula for a good relationship, the common characteristics are
trust, goodwill, respect, commitment, and transparency.
1.2.3 Meeting with the public
The intent of including input from all potentially affected parties at the outset of the project is to follow
a process that is inclusive and respectful of all involved groups and members of the public. Since they
will be impacted by any development controls imposed because of the study, it is important that they
understand that the goal is to protect public safety, and that a thorough process has been followed. Of
equal importance is the fact that this process provides an opportunity for relevant information to be
gathered from the community. This information forms the basis upon which much of the assessment
will rest, and therefore needs to be as extensive as possible.
While the importance of protecting public safety is understood by all, impacted landowners and the
local community may be concerned about the potential restrictions that can be placed on the
development of properties. To minimize future conflict when making changes to land use zoning and
planning documents to align with the results of the flood study, it is important to engage the local
community early in the flood study. If the community’s first exposure to the flood lines is when land use
regulations are being developed, it is likely too late. The flood study is composed of a significant amount
of information and will take time for the average citizen to understand. If they are not involved in the
process, some community members may feel that there is not enough opportunity to suggest changes
to the assessment or proposed regulations.
Engaging the community to collect information about their experience with flooding can have a positive
impact on public perceptions of the study and its outcomes. Flooding can be traumatic for people and
the municipality should be prepared to have meaningful conversations with those who have
experienced loss due to a flood event. On the other side there may be individuals who do not see the
value in restricting development, but by including them in the assessment before any analysis is
conducted, they will have an opportunity to voice their concerns and hopefully have a positive impact
on defining the study’s parameters. By engaging the public early in the process, a municipality will often
have greater support from its constituents and end up with a study that is better supported by local
information.
A typical approach to an engagement meeting would include:
1) Presentation of background information that led to the initiation of the project. This can be known
historic flooding information, the Municipal Climate Change Action Plans, known safety concerns, or
any other relevant information. This is typically best achieved using a series of posters in an Open-
House style of public meeting, where one to one discussion is facilitated.
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 7
2) Provide large maps, on which members of the public can note extents of past floods, or vulnerable
infrastructure. This information can later be entered in a GIS database for reference.
3) A questionnaire to fill out, to record relevant information. Suggestions include:
a) Can you recall the dates during which you witnessed flooding in this area? (refer to a map)
b) Can you draw on one of the provided maps a line showing the extent of flooding that you are
aware of, noting the date on the line?
c) In your opinion, what are the leading causes of flooding and why?
d) Please note which roads you would need to use to access emergency services or supplies.
e) Do you have a Municipal / Town water supply connection, or are you on a well?
f) Please note any areas that is in your opinion vulnerable during floods.
As previously stated, one the main goals of this type of early engagement will be to gather information
on potential flood mechanisms to include in the study RFP. To support and inform this process,
descriptions of each mechanism are presented in Chapter 2, as well as a check list that can be included
in meetings and/or the RFP.
1.2.4 Recommendations for Municipal Communications
Step 1: Reflect
As a municipality, it will be important to understand the core reasons for opposition to flood mapping
and the social science theories1 that help explain them, as this will help generate empathy for citizens in
advance of the project. Empathy will help municipalities and their representatives design thoughtful
engagement processes that consider the concerns of citizens and strengthen the likelihood of citizens
perceiving the municipality positively.
It is also useful to take an informal audit of trustworthiness within your municipality, both citizen-to-
municipality and citizen-to-citizen. This may include reflecting on and learning from past public
engagement campaigns and program rollouts and any conflicts that arose, even if they are not flood
related. Trust can be repaired through acknowledgement, apology, taking responsibility for past harms,
and working to avoid such issues in the future. Trust repair is difficult but critical work if citizens are
going to be willing to engage. Municipalities can build trust through competent communication that
demonstrates ethical care and reliability.
There also needs to be a political will within the municipality to stand by the flood mapping product and
implement policy to protect future as well as current citizens. It may be helpful to develop some
guidelines about how different categories of risk will be handled even before risk is assigned to specific
locations. Key operating principles should be discussed with councillors and other elected officials (e.g.,
MLAs), and document whatever is decided on so it can be revisited later.
1 For a discussion of social science interpretations of media discourse on flood mapping support and disapproval
See the Additional Information section at the end of Appendix A. Adapted from a report on Flood Mapping:
Navigating Multiple Perspectives by MJ Valiquette, Simon Couper and Kate Sherren from the School for Resource
and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University.
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 8
Step 2: Involve citizens when engaging with experts
Most municipalities will not have the in-house flood mapping capabilities that will be sufficient to meet
the technical specifications expected by the Provincial government. Any consultants hired to do such
work should have not only technical but also public engagement competencies. The consultants will not
only be technical experts but will also be proxies for the municipality, and any relationship failures will
reflect upon the municipality and the resulting product. Ensure that the consultants hired have a track
record of productive engagement with the public.
For citizens to trust consultants they must see them as competent in terms of their related experience
and abilities. The best way to ensure this is to involve citizens. This could include involving citizen
members in a flood mapping project steering committee or creating a separate citizen’s flood mapping
advisory committee. Citizens should be chosen for their diversity and capacity to represent different
perspectives (including youth, new residents, and others who may vote in lower numbers and thus be
likely underrepresented on council), but also for the esteem by which they are held in the community.
Meaningful involvement will help citizens feel that they are being well represented, but also leverage
cognitive shortcuts: if people they know and respect advocate for flood mapping and stand behind the
final product, other residents are less likely to reject the outcome.
Step 3: Demonstrate the shared challenge and shared responsibility
Before flood mapping is carried out it is important to show citizens that it is needed and will be for the
public good. Lay out all the problems that can arise because of flood mapping, discuss climate trends
that indicate a worsening trajectory, and invite conversation on the shared challenge of adaptation.
Flood mapping is only one response to adaptation; municipalities should be prepared to hear others.
Municipal representatives should lead this kind of meeting and avoid showing any existing flood
delineations in their municipality, as citizens may attach to those in unhelpful ways. Stories and
photographs of extreme events in the area, or nearby, can be used, however. This reminder of adverse
impacts will make the issue salient without triggering instinctive responses, which will undermine the
careful reflection required to tackle the complexity of flood adaptation.
When a municipality gives residents complete information about the costs and benefits of flood
mapping, and then includes residents in developing responses to the mapping, residents are much more
likely to engage and accept the outcomes. If participants understand the necessity and benefits of flood
mapping, then they can also feel more motivated and knowledgeable in their ability to influence flood
mitigation strategies.
Step 4: Leverage and incorporate local knowledge early
Residents will be more likely to reject flood mapping if they are not involved and the resulting maps do
not reflect their experience. This can be avoided in part by recognizing local expertise and inviting
citizens to meaningfully participate in the project (e.g., understanding historical flooding). However,
engagement should clearly convey that historical experience is only one dataset feeding into the analysis
and that it is not a perfect predictor for future flooding, especially as the climate changes.
Information should be tailored to meet people at their level of readiness and willingness to adapt to
flooding. Meetings should be run to promote respect, comfort, and competency amongst participants.
Consider asking them to bring their own historical photographs of floods, so these conditions can be
recorded for specific sites. Maps used in the meetings should incorporate landmarks that citizens will be
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 9
familiar with and navigate by. Make sure the chairs are comfortable and that people have time to
stretch and chat over good coffee. Use silent ballots where social pressures might make voting or other
input difficult. Finally, consider varying meeting formats to maintain citizen interest, perhaps even
holding them at sites near floodplains or coasts so that the meeting can discuss issues in-situ.
Step 5: Provide a counter-narrative to the media
Media coverage plays a significant role in extending the reach of flood mapping messages; the media is
instrumental in creating frames in public debate. It is imperative to ensure continual and positive
discourse with the media. Try to frame messages that emphasize local engagement and benefits. Risk
perception studies have found that residents’ positive attitudes towards flood mapping increase after
intensive media campaigns that feature consistent and targeted framing about the benefits of flood
mapping.
Overworked journalists are highly responsive to complaints by unhappy citizens. Many of the significant
challenges to flood mapping and coastal adaptation in the past few years have been driven by citizens
(Big Lake, Hantsport, Shubenacadie). Such stories heavily influence public opinion. It is critical to
cultivate a narrative in the media utilizing citizens who have been disadvantaged by the lack of flood
mapping.
Step 6: Commit to transparency
Municipalities should adopt a communication strategy that addresses cognitive biases and presents
evidence for the need to perform flood mapping. Sharing information through social networks and social
media allows for broad interaction and builds trust between individuals, the government, and other
stakeholders.
Advance communication tools such as geovisualizations (i.e., maps with animations) can strengthen
connection to place and convey complex information in an accessible way. However, these tools also
demand expertise that may make them prohibitively expensive. If utilized, geovisualizations and similar
tools should be employed at the conclusion of the study to communicate the results.
Publicly available maps are key to reducing risk. Information on these maps should be easily accessible
(e.g., by address, or easily navigated interface) and allow for interpretation by non-experts (e.g., using
landmarks and intuitive colour choices). Information on how users can interpret their flood risk level
(i.e., frequency and amount of flooding) and how to reduce it (i.e., evacuation routes, property-level
protection measures and flood insurance).
Tactics for Stakeholder Engagement
Champions Briefing Hold briefings for municipal representatives, employees, and other key
influencers to ensure they understand your initiative and are equipped to be
champion it with their networks. Consider developing talking points and a
presentation that your champions can use.
Media Release Develop and deliver media releases at key milestones, communicating the
drivers, process and progress updates.
Media Event Hold media events at key milestones, including initiative launch and to
communicate progress updates. In addition to municipal representatives,
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 10
consider making your consultants, initiative champions and engaged residents
available to local media.
Materials Consider developing talking points, a presentation slide deck, a brochure or
one-page summary at the outset of your initiative. Develop reports at key
milestones to communicate progress.
Website Develop a website or allocate part of an existing municipal website to
communicate initiative background and progress information.
Social media Use social media channels to provide brief updates on your initiative. These
channels can be particularly effective for demonstrating citizen engagement
e.g. post photographs of input sessions.
1.3 Water level and rainfall measurements
Meeting with operations staff, local groups, First Nations communities, and the general public may
produce an understanding of the presence of the most common flooding mechanisms (e.g. ice jams or
floods associated with snowmelt), but may not shed light on some more complex mechanisms, such as
tidal amplification or seiching. It is important to collect this information prior to the flood study, because
those mechanisms can only be identified through field measurements of several weeks, and also
because they involve an additional amount of modelling that would increase the level of effort for the
study. Identifying those mechanisms can be challenging, and it is likely most municipalities will require
consultant services to carry out this scope of work.
1.3.1 Role of a consultant before the Flood Study to support preparing the RFP
This section outlines the role of a consultant for the analysis of the data and in support of the
preparation of the RFP. This could be the same consultant that will carry out the flood study, a separate
consultant engaged just to help develop the RFP, or the client engineer that was described in the
overview document and will review the final results of the flood study.
• The consultant will need to analyse the data, as well as the information gathered by the
municipality, and provide recommendations to include other flood mechanisms where the
consultant deems appropriate.
• On items where the municipality is making decisions, the consultant will provide clear
recommendations supported by professional expertise and analysis.
• The consultant should be able to defend the analyses provided against questions from the
public, other consultants, agencies, as they occur.
• The consultant will need to have a team that is appropriately qualified to do this work, and that
allows the analysis to be completed in a defensible manner.
• The consultant will provide input to the municipality on the specifications and guidance items
they feel are not appropriate for the specific study area, with the intent that the study will be as
scientifically defensible as possible.
• The consultant will have appropriate professional liability insurance.
• The consultant will have the ability to stamp report and maps by a professional engineer
qualified to practice in the Province of Nova Scotia.
1.3.2 Identification of tidal amplification and seiching
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 11
Tidal amplification and seiching can typically be detected by analysing water level measurements at
coastal sites and comparing them to expected peak tide levels from the closest harbour and tidal
information available from the Canadian Hydrographic Service. In addition, rainfall data may be sparse,
and water course water level data are often not available from the Environment Canada flow gauging
stations (only flows). Therefore, rainfall and water level measurements upstream of the tidal influence
are also extremely valuable.
To supplement existing anecdotal information and provide consistent data measurements to support
model calibration, it is required that the following measurements are collected for a duration of 1
month minimum, between the months of October to May (to avoid the summer dry and calm
conditions). If there are issues with the instrument (impacted by ice, sediment, erosion, or tampering),
then the monitoring period should be extended to obtain 1 month of reliable data, with at least 2 weeks
of continuous measurements.
• Rainfall measurements with a rain gauge capable of obtaining 5-minute interval rainfall
measurements. The rain gauge should be placed in the watershed of the watercourse studied.
• Water level measurements (related to the CGVD2013 geodetic vertical datum) upstream of the
tidal influence (where there are no increases in water levels twice a day), within the study area.
• Water level measurements in the study area and within the tidal influence (that would be below
mid-tide level or lower).
If preliminary historical, anecdotal, and other evidence indicates that the watershed does not include
riverine flooding risks; the rainfall gauge and the water level measurements upstream of the tidal
influence can be omitted. Similarly, if evidence suggests that the site only experiences riverine flooding
risks, the water level measurements within the tidal influence can be omitted.
Once the water level measurements within the tidal influence have been collected and graphed, they
will need to be compared to the tidal predictions from Fisheries and Oceans Canada for the closest site.
The data will need to be converted from Chart Datum to CGVD2013 to compare to the measurements. If
the peak water levels are different, this indicates the presence of tidal amplification or seiching. Tidal
amplification will consist of increased tidal height peaks, while seiching will consist of oscillations that
continue to occur outside of the tidal peaks (several peaks between high tide times). If any of those
mechanisms are detected, they will need to be included in the scope of work for the flood study.
A review of the data and the possible presence of tidal amplification or seiching will need to be made by
the selected consultant to confirm that the scope of work should include those flood mechanisms.
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 12
CHAPTER 2 MINIMUM SPECIFIED STANDARDS
This chapter discusses the baseline standards that should be followed in Nova Scotia. These are to be
applied to all flood mapping studies. For more detail on the minimum specified standards refer to
Chapter 1 of Appendix B: Technical Specifications. Additional elements can be studied if they are found
to be present (Chapter 3). All flood mapping studies carried in Nova Scotia must consider the following:
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1% AEP (1 in 100 Year event)
5% AEP (1 in 20 Year event)
Projection Horizons for the
analysis of future flood events
Land Use Planning
Horizons
2050 (25-30 Year planning horizon)
2100 (75-80 Year planning horizon)
Required Analysis Scenarios
Precipitation
Coastal Water Level
Climate Change
2.1 Return period or frequency of flood events to analyse
The current Statement of Provincial Interest on Flood Risk Areas establishes the 1 in 20-year return
event as the floodway and the 1 in 100-year return event as the floodway fringe extents. This is to be
considered the minimum acceptable provincial standard. These events are more clearly explained in
terms of probability of occurrence every year or Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP). The 1% AEP
(equivalent to the concept of the 1 in 100-year return event) and 5% AEP (equivalent to the concept of
the 1 in 20 year return event) should be used by both the municipality and the consultant when carrying
out the flood study and engaging with stakeholders and the public.
2.2 Projection Horizons for the analysis of future flood events
In conjunction with the development of these specifications, the Province consulted with multiple
academic institutions to develop a standardized framework for the selection of scenarios and the
incorporation of future climate changes into riverine and coastal flood mapping in Nova Scotia.
Literature reviews were conducted in various fields, the results were discussed with the province in two
workshops, and the outputs of the work were summarized in a set of specifications and
recommendations: the Standard for the incorporation of climate change into riverine and coastal flood
mapping in Nova Scotia (Jamieson, R., Kurylyk, B., Rapaport, E., Manuel, P., Van Proosdij, D., Beltrami,
H., Hayward, J., KarisAllen, J., Clark, K., Tusz, C., Jahncke, R., García-García, A., & Cuesta-Valero, F.,J.
(2019)). Henceforth this document will be referred to as the Climate Change Standard. The Climate
Change Standard is included in the RFP package and provided to the consultants with the Nova Scotia
Municipal Flood Line Mapping document and Appendix B: Technical Specifications.
As per the Climate Change Standard, the time horizons to be used for flood mapping of future
conditions are 2050 and 2100. Adjustments to rainfall and coastal water levels to account for climate
change should follow this document.
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 13
The municipalities will provide information to the selected consultant on the potential future changes to
land use at those time horizons. However, the consultant will also need to refer to the applicable
Municipal Planning Strategies to understand current and future land use in the study area.
Municipalities need to ensure that the consultant has access to the most up-to-date version of their
Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use Bylaws.
2.3 Required Analysis Scenarios
The minimum analysis scenarios prescribed by the Climate Change Standard are for precipitation and
coastal water levels (storm surge and tide), for both current and future conditions.
2.3.1 Precipitation:
Current: Current 5% and 1% AEP precipitation events are obtained from the nearest Environment and
Climate Change Canada station with IDF curves. The duration of the design rainfall events shall be 48
hours.
2.3.1.1 WINTER RAINFALL EVENT
In addition to the scenarios prescribed by the Province through the Climate Change Standard, winter
rainfall events shall be investigated. Since winter conditions in Nova Scotia (i.e., December 1st to April
1st) include many freeze-thaw cycles, the likelihood of rainfall (as opposed to snowfall) occurring during
winter is high and generally expected to increase with Climate Change. This should be investigated as
part of the minimum scenarios.
2.3.2 Coastal Water Levels:
Current: The continuous surface model based on oceanographic models, observed water levels, GPS
observations, sea level trends, satellite altimetry, and a geoid model provide more accurate flood
modelling (Robin et al., 2014) provides better resolution at the local level, particularly for areas that are
not close to a real-time tide gauge.
Caution in the application of this approach should be applied where there is the possible risk of loss of
public confidence in flood extents depicted if extreme water level projections decrease (due to
decreases in modelled HHWLT). This is precisely the case for the Upper Bay of Fundy. At present, it is
recommended that the new 2017 HHWLT values NOT be applied in areas of the Upper Bay of Fundy
where there are extensive intertidal zones which are known to be poorly resolved in oceanographic
models.
The following section identifies and highlights the need to consider additional input scenarios to provide
a more representative approach (e.g., return periods of snowpack depth, climate change impacts on
tidal amplification, etc.) to overall flooding risks at the site.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix A: Guidance Document 14
CHAPTER 3 LIST OF POTENTIAL FLOOD MECHANISMS
This section provides information on various additional mechanisms that may contribute to high water
levels. Riverine, coastal, and estuarine mechanisms that contribute to high water levels under current
scenarios are presented first. These are then considered with future changes to land use and climate.
The mechanisms are provided in a checklist and include a Factor of Safety. This Factor of Safety
accommodates mechanisms that are expected to be present in the area but can not be properly studied
in the flood assessment. The municipality will need to review the mechanisms and use any existing
information (historical, anecdotal, pervious studies, etc.) to determine which mechanisms to include in
the scope of work for the flood study.
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Mechanisms Relevant in Estuarine
Floodplains
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Mechanisms Relevant in
Riverine Floodplains
Ice jamming
Snowmelt during a rainfall event
Dam operation
Changing risks according to season
Hydraulic structure operation
Debris jamming
Mechanisms Relevant in
Coastal Floodplains
Wave setup
Wave run-up and overtopping
Tidal amplification
Seiching
Joint Probability Analysis Storm surge and rainfall
Other combination of events
3.1 Criteria and Roles for Selecting Mechanisms
Chapter 1 sets out what information needs to be collected by municipalities prior to procuring flood
mapping. Depending on budget considerations, preliminary data and information gathering, and advice
from the client engineer, the municipality should be able to identify the relevant flood mechanisms to
include in the flood study. The selected consultant will review the selected flood mechanisms proposed
by the municipality and confirm that these are appropriate. The client engineer can also provide
comments if there is disagreement between the municipality and the consultant.
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 15
Thus, the criteria for determining site-specific flood scenarios are:
1. Extracting historical records and local knowledge (municipality)
2. Conducting water level measurements (municipality and/or consultant)
3. Expert experience (consultant)
4. External experience (client engineer)
3.2 Checklist of Flood Mechanisms
The flood mechanisms presented in Table 3.2 are further described in the following sections. The
completed checklist will inform the scope of work for the flood study and would be in addition to the
Minimum Specified Standards (Chapter 2).
By using the checklist in the development of the Request for Proposals the municipality has a starting
point as they try to identify flood mechanisms. Any data gathering (e.g., water level measurements) or
meetings with staff, stakeholders, community groups, interested parties, and the public will also support
the identification of additional flood mechanisms.
If a mechanism is known to exist, but available expertise, data, or budget, do not allow those
mechanisms to be studied, the Factor of Safety included in the table can be used. This approach is
supported by Nova Scotia’s existing precautionary principle contained in the province’s Environment Act
(1994), to address uncertainty: “the precautionary principle will be used in decision-making so that
where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, the lack of full scientific certainty shall not be
used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation” [Section 2(b)(ii)].
Climate change is layered on existing scenarios. Therefore, the scenarios identified in the checklist will
have their rainfall amount and sea levels, increased by the respective values prescribed in the Climate
Change Standard.
Further general guidance is provided in this chapter to support the inclusion or rejection of different
mechanisms. Requirements that are more relevant to conducting the assessment itself (topographic
data, hydraulic structure surveys, interaction with collection system, hydrologic and hydraulic modelling
requirements, model calibration requirements) are only included in Appendix B: Technical
Specifications.
The checklist provided below will be initially filled out by the municipality and supporting consultant,
during the preparation of the RFP, and appended to the RFP. It will then be reviewed and confirmed by
the consultant selected to carry out the flood study. One checklist should be filled out for current
climate conditions, an additional two items are added for future conditions, which would include climate
change impacts.
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 16
Table 3.1: Checklist of Potential Flood Mechanisms
Number Flood Mechanism
(Check if believed to be present)
Existing Climate Conditions
Riverine Flooding
1 □ Snowmelt during a rainfall event
2 □ Ice jamming
3 □ Debris jamming
4 □ Dam operation
5 □ Hydraulic structure operation
6 □ Changing risks according to season
Coastal Flooding
7a □ Wave setup
7b
7c
□ Wave run-up
or
□ Overtopping
8a □ Tidal amplification
8b □ Seiching
Joint analysis of various events:
9 □ Storm surge and rainfall
10 □ Other combination of events
11 □ Other:
Future Climate Change Conditions
12 □ Additional development scenarios
13 □ Risk-Based Analysis
More detail on each flood mechanism is presented below. They are mainly for the use of the consultant
but are presented here to provide more information to support the selection of flood mechanisms if
needed.
3.3 Mechanisms Relevant in Riverine Floodplains
In addition to the extreme precipitation scenarios, there are many other scenarios that can be
considered for riverine floodplains. Depending on the watershed, winter conditions may have a
significant impact on water levels; the municipality should include winter conditions in the analysis.
These include the following; however, additional conditions can be added if other specific mechanisms
have been identified.
1. Snow accumulation and snowmelt during a rainfall event
2. Ice jamming
3. Debris jamming
4. Dam operation, where present
5. Hydraulic structure operation
6. Seasonal conditions
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 17
1. Snow Accumulation and Snowmelt during a Rainfall Event
This is important to include if snow accumulation can reach high depths (more than one metre), or if
the watershed is very large and susceptible to effects of snowmelt over long durations (if it includes
several large lakes for example), or if vulnerabilities exist close to lakes, that could be impacted by
snowmelt.
2. Ice Jamming
Rivers in Nova Scotia very often are the subject of ice jams. If ice jams have been historically noted as
creating flooding risks to developed or potentially developed areas, ice jam modelling should be
considered. Ice thickness measurements should be obtained from a location as close as possible to
the study area.
3. Debris Jamming
Rivers in Nova Scotia can be subjected to debris jams. If debris jams have been historically noted as
creating flooding risks to developed or potentially developed areas, debris jam modelling should be
considered. Since debris jams can be very different each time they form, the analysis needs to rely on
as much field and anecdotal data as possible.
4. Dam Operation, where Present
Where dams are present, the owner of the dam structure should be contacted and the operational
procedures for the dams under various weather conditions should be obtained. The Dam Safety
Review reports should be obtained and reviewed. From this, the scenarios potentially producing the
greatest water levels in the downstream watercourse should be extracted from the reports, to
identify the conditions producing the highest water levels.
5. Hydraulic Structure Operation, where Present
Hydraulic structures can have many different configurations, and can include operated weirs, gates,
orifices, penstocks, flow diversions, pumps, or any other type that could impact flows or water levels.
If parts of the operational procedure of a hydraulic structure has the potential to increase flood risk, it
should be included in the analysis. Similarly, if there is even a small likelihood that a structure could
become stuck (such as a gate), then it should be included in the analysis.
6. Seasonal Conditions
Seasons will affect the surface roughness of the land cover types, as well as the infiltration potential.
If it is expected that seasonal conditions, outside of the rainfall on frozen ground scenario (which is
already included) can cause increased flooding risks, this should be included. This should be included
if vulnerable seasonal activities take place in the floodplain and should be specifically identified, such
as industrial activity or seasonal farming activities.
More scenarios may exist, depending on the specific characteristics of the watersheds of the target
watercourse. For example, there are many tide gates in Nova Scotia, which can be operated in various
manners, and which can also become blocked by debris, ice, or sediment accumulation. It will be up to
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 18
the municipality and the consultant carrying out the analysis to identify any additional characteristics
that may influence flooding risks.
3.4 Mechanisms Relevant in Coastal Floodplains
In addition to the minimum required scenarios, several others may need to be considered if relevant at
to the study area. These can include:
7. Short Wave Processes
These processes can increase water levels at the coastline and need to be evaluated where vulnerable
infrastructure exists. Risks from short wave processes are evaluated through wave height and period
for locally generated wind waves or ocean swell. These can be based on standard equations for
enclosed bays for wind driven waves or nearshore wave modelling for sites where wave energy is
impacted by ocean swells. Consultants will need to use specialized software or established standard
methodology.
Short wave processes include:
7a. Wave setup - the increase in mean water level, due to the presence of breaking waves. It is
typically an important component of the storm surge in exposed areas with wide beaches. Since
this is essentially an increase in the storm surge water level against the shore, it needs to be
considered where small variations are important to the protection of the site.
7b. Wave runup - the vertical extent of the wave uprush on the coastline slope, which can lead to
erosion and local flooding. Like wave setup, it should be included in the analysis where the site
could be vulnerable to such effects. If built coastal defenses exist in the area, the wave
overtopping mechanism may be more applicable.
7c. Wave overtopping (if applicable) - For areas with built coastal defences, the amount of water
discharged over a coastal defense structure. If coastal defense structures exist in the area, and
are vulnerable to water overtopping, this process should be included in the analysis.
8. Long Wave Processes
Long waves may increase the coastal flood level as follows:
8a. Tidal amplification - occurs when the tide moves inland in a gradually narrowing inlet, which
may cause amplification of the tidal height. If the coastal inlet seems to be funnel shaped, this
should be considered. It is noted that this is a difficult phenomenon to visually witness, as it will
occur gradually over several kilometres. This is where water level measurements are valuable to
support the identification of this process.
8b. Seiching - refers to a standing wave from the natural oscillation within a partially closed body
of water. It is typically present around harbours and coastal inlets and can be triggered by wind or
waves breaking on a nearby wide beach. Standing waves can lead to higher water levels than
otherwise expected against the coast, and should be evaluated where partially enclosed areas
exist, and/or where they have been experienced by local boaters or fishermen. If such experience
exists, this process should be included in the analysis.
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 19
3.5 Mechanisms Relevant in Estuarine Floodplains
In addition to the processes mentioned above, estuaries may require joint consideration of extreme
rainfall and storm surge. Storm systems can lead to co-occurring storm surges and extreme rainfall. In
this case, it is important to consider them jointly because the impact on water levels of their co-
occurrence is greater than the sum of their individual impacts. If vulnerable populations or
infrastructure exists in areas that are affected by both the tides and river levels, a joint analysis is
recommended. If a joint analysis is selected, the consultant will need to:
Use the closest long-duration tide gauge and rain gauge records
Conduct appropriate statistics on the co-occurrence of extreme rainfall and storm surge events
based on the measured records
Adjust the design events to better represent the results obtained
3.6 Mechanisms Relevant to Future and Climate Change Conditions
3.6.1 Additional development scenarios
In addition to the baseline scenarios for the flood line criteria that apply to existing development
conditions, the municipality must consider potential future scenarios that are specific to the study area.
These may include modifications to the current state of development of the watersheds, or the current
state of the drainage system. It may also include the possibility of ideal future stormwater management,
for example, wherein the widespread implementation of stormwater best management practices is able
to return the watershed hydrology to pre-development characteristics. If the checklist item for
additional development scenarios is selected, the municipality is requiring more than one future
development scenario to be investigated.
The projected horizons for future development shall extend to two-time horizons and consider any
public safety requirements and development restrictions:
1. 2050 - mostly reflecting currently approved development. Zoning maps in a land use bylaw may
only extend a few years and primarily reflect shorter term development
2. 2100 - to include expected future development. Generalized Future Land Use Maps should
indicate areas of expected change and are based on Municipal Planning Strategies..
Since the principal use of flood maps is to inform Land Use By-laws and Municipal Planning Strategies,
the maps should provide insight into future conditions. As such, climate change will form a necessary
part of future conditions analyses and needs to be carefully considered.
Note: Tsunamis are a type of long period wave triggered by earthquakes or landslides. However,
because of Nova Scotia′s position on a trailing-edge plate margin, the risk of a tsunami is very low
(the last occurrence was in 1929 off the coast of Newfoundland). As such it is typically not
accounted for in local flood studies.
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 20
3.6.2 Risk-Based analysis
In the Appendix B: Technical Specifications, consultants are directed to simply layer climate change on
existing scenarios. The municipality can however select a risk-based analysis (#13 in the Checklist of
Potential Flood Mechanisms). A risk-based analysis allows for a more in-depth look at the impact of
uncertain events, such as greater climate change scenarios, or any other scenario in addition to the ones
already listed. The analysis will show what areas (i.e., land use types, infrastructure, etc.) can be flooded
in various scenarios. This allows municipalities to identify vulnerabilities and can help to define which
specific uncertain scenarios should be included.
A risk-based analysis considers the effect of lager than anticipated events on vulnerable populations,
land uses, services, communication, and infrastructure. This is especially relevant to climate change
analyses since the selection of a climate change event can be very uncertain. Using a risk-based
approach will allow municipalities to visualize the risk that is placed on the vulnerable areas if actual
change is underestimated. The municipality can then make informed choices about modifying the
floodplain boundary at locations identified as vulnerable, changing land use planning policy, or
implementing mitigation measures including retreat2.
Both the Federal Hydrologic and Hydraulic Procedures for Flood Hazard Delineation, 2019, and the
Municipal Flood Line Mapping: Planning Horizons and Considerations, 2019, advise that risk-based
analysis provides better information to support decision-making. This approach is also consistent with
the Nova Scotia’s precautionary principle to address uncertainty in the Environment Act as noted earlier.
2 For example, in HRM, the uncertainty was related to which climate change scenario to include in the analysis. A
risk-based analysis was carried out and since no additional vulnerabilities were identified with a more conservative
climate change scenario, the most conservative climate change scenario was selected.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix A: Guidance Document 21
CHAPTER 4 TENDERING & IMPLEMENTATION
As noted in Chapter 1, the first steps include meeting with various stakeholders to assemble information
relevant to flooding risks and vulnerabilities and collecting preliminary data. This will inform and guide
development of the flood study parameters and lead to the selection of flood mechanisms. External
expertise may be required for the municipality to collect and interpret preliminary data measurements.
Once the various potential flood mechanisms have been selected, the municipality will be ready to
tender the flood study. The checklist of flood mechanisms (Table 3.1), together with Appendix B:
Technical Specifications, should be sufficient to clearly define the scope of work that the selected
consultant should follow.
4.1 Tendering
The Appendix B: Technical Specifications is intended to provide a consistent basis for conducting a flood
mapping study in Nova Scotia. Consequently, it should include sufficient technical information to allow
the municipality to tender the flood mapping study. Overall, the Municipal Flood Line Mapping
Documents have been created to support municipalities in procuring flood line mapping and allow the
development of technically sound and complete analyses.
In carrying out the flood study there are several tasks that fall to the municipality that can be carried out
directly or contracted out:
1. Conducting the stakeholder and community engagement.
2. Discussing and finalizing a list of flood processes to include in the study.
3. Tendering the project.
4. Conducting a review, both internally and through a client engineer reviewer.
4.2 Required qualifications of consulting firms
Consulting firms bidding on the Request for Proposals shall meet the following minimum requirements:
• Professional Engineering License to Practice in Nova Scotia
• Company experience in flood mapping studies of no less than 10 years. This must include both
riverine flood mapping and coastal flood mapping.
• Project Manager experience in flood mapping studies of no less than 5 years.
• Project Manager to have experience clearly communicating the results of past projects to
municipalities, stakeholders, and the public both in written reports and presentations.
• At least 3 suitably representative project examples.
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 22
• Technical support engineer of no less than 5 years of experience in hydrology and hydraulics.
• Worker’s Compensation certification.
• Liability insurance.
• A person of contact within Nova Scotia.
The successful proponent’s firm is expected to have experience creating flood studies and flood maps.
This includes locating and evaluating data, collecting historical flooding information, building, and
evaluating hydrologic and hydraulic models, determining coastal flooding, and clearly communicating
modelling results. The firm is expected to have experience in both fluvial and coastal flooding studies
with a demonstrated understanding of flooding in Nova Scotia, hydrotechnical modeling, familiarity with
available data, foreseen data gaps, and data collection strategies.
The successful proponent’s proposed resources should be varied and may include engineers, planners,
scientists, climatologists, technologists, and technicians. Ideally each resource would have experience
working on flood studies. Consultants should be expected to present their analyses in front of Council,
the public, or third-party experts. Consultants should also be available to respond to concerns raised by
the public, with the municipality acting as an intermediate.
4.3 Contracting the a client engineer
Ideally, a separate tendering process will be required for the client engineer. Within the tendering
documents, a specific cost should be requested for review of the flood mapping report and analysis. This
can be included in a tender for the collection of preliminary data discussed in Chapter 1 or for a
standalone third-party reviewer. Bidders should be allowed to submit proposals and costs for both, or
just one of the two scopes of work. This will allow smaller consultants to submit proposals, who may be
very qualified to conduct a review, but who may not have the team size required to conduct a full study
and mapping effort.
4.4 Municipal Review
The Municipality will review the deliverables to ensure:
- The various items requested are included in the deliverables
- The analysis appears to include the various mechanisms requested
- The report is clear and well written
- The maps are readable, and the GIS files can be opened and are in the correct format with
appropriate metadata
- The report generally meets the expectations of the Municipality.
4.4.1 Reporting deliverables
The maps are to be accompanied by a report. This report should include, at a minimum:
• Background of the study, purpose of the investigation and objectives.
• Hydrologic and hydraulic setting.
• Previous history of flooding (that is known).
• Data availability, and for each set available quality and span. Data gaps and QA/QC to be
documented.
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 23
• Survey summary maps.
• Hydrologic assessment approach, with supporting rationale.
• Details of hydrologic assessment.
• Hydrologic assessment results, calibration results if modelling was undertaken.
• Hydraulic assessment approach, with supporting rationale.
• Details of hydraulic assessment.
• Hydraulic assessment results, calibration results, sensitivity testing and associated discussion.
• Calibrated model parameters to support review by the municipality or their client engineer.
• A table listing the structures that either surcharge or are overtopped, noting the peak flow to each
structure and the overtopped flow, for each of the four flood events.
• Discussion on the estimated level of quality of the study, and the main limitations/sources of
uncertainty (these should be explained based on availability and quality of data, assessment
approach, modelling challenges, etc.).
• Recommendations for further efforts to improve the next flood mapping study, including potential
additional data collection.
4.4.2 Mapping Deliverables
In addition to the report, the maps should be delivered both in pdf format and in a GIS Geodatabase
(flood outlines) as a minimum. All maps (e.g. velocity, depth, and hazard) should also be delivered in GIS
raster file format, to the municipality and to the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Model
files for the requested scenarios should be included in the deliverables, with the necessary data to allow
the user to run the models for the various scenarios investigated with the GIS data files. A Map Package
is also to be created to allow the mapping layouts to conserve the data links.
The GIS maps layers shall include the following:
Map Type Layer Name assigned to layer
Flood Extents
1% AEP Current Climate Floodline_1_AEP_Existing
5% AEP Current Climate Floodline_5_AEP_Existing
1% AEP Current Climate Floodline_1_AEP_CC
5% AEP Current Climate Floodline_5_AEP_CC
Depth Maps
1% AEP Current Climate Depth_1_AEP_Existing
5% AEP Current Climate Depth_5_AEP_Existing
1% AEP Current Climate Depth_1_AEP_CC
5% AEP Current Climate Depth_5_AEP_CC
Velocity Maps
1% AEP Current Climate Velocity_1_AEP_Existing
5% AEP Current Climate Velocity_5_AEP_Existing
1% AEP Current Climate Velocity_1_AEP_CC
5% AEP Current Climate Velocity_5_AEP_CC
Hazard Maps
1% AEP Current Climate Hazard_1_AEP_Existing
5% AEP Current Climate Hazard_5_AEP_Existing
1% AEP Current Climate Hazard_1_AEP_CC
5% AEP Current Climate Hazard_5_AEP_CC
Department of Municipal Affairs Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Guidance 24
The municipality can also request the preparation of other forms of data presentation, such as more
focused maps at specific scales with specific information (e.g., property boundaries), but also 3D
renderings or animations of specific flood scenarios showing the water levels rising, following the model
output. If these additional visualizations are requested, they should be included in the original RFP scope
of work.
4.5 Approval Process
The formal acceptance of the report and flood maps by both the municipality and the client engineer
reviewer, will be required before the report is approved.
4.6 Next Steps
Following the completion of the flood mapping study, consideration will need to be given to the
development of a flood mitigation plan. One important outcome of the identification and analyses of
flood mechanisms is that it helps to explain the causes of flooding. Once the causes are known, then
mitigation can address the causes rather than just the symptoms of flooding. The results of the flood
study will therefore be key to the preparation of a flood mitigation plan.
Planning tools such as setbacks, zoning regulations, development controls, and land use restrictions are
the most effective at preventing damage and loss due to flood events. Some attention should also be
given to green infrastructure, or restoration of natural systems that promote the infiltration of
stormwater, thereby reducing flooding risks.
Depending on the layout of the floodplain and the level of development in the watershed, a Stormwater
Management Plan may be an important means of reducing flood risk. The plan will help identify flooding
risks within the stormwater conveyance system at the street level; work that could not be adequately
carried out without the definition of the floodplain as a first step.
.
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and Storm Surge Projections. NS department of Municipal Affairs.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Adapted From FLOOD MAPPING: NAVIGATING MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES by MJ Valiquette, Simon
Couper and Kate Sherren, School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University
Media Analysis: Perspectives On Flood Mapping
Media analysis of public comments about inland and coastal flooding reveals that the majority of
Canadians view mapping as an important issue, yet other articles highlight widespread opposition to
flood mapping. A frequently voiced concern that Canadians express is the unnecessary burden that
mapping places on their current home values and on community development. A systematic media
analysis helps gauge public responses to flood mapping and the roots of these responses in social
theory.
Method
Looking at local, regional, and national newspapers (through a database), we identified 112 articles
over the past five years that include keywords like ‘resident’, ‘flood map’, and ‘coastal’. Of these,
only 47 articles (42 per cent) provided direct quotes from residents. Most of the articles (at 65/112 =
58 per cent) provided direct quotes from local experts and representatives from municipal,
provincial, and federal governments.3
Using qualitative data software NVivo and Excel, we organized and analyzed the articles to identify
themes from the residents’ comments. We first sorted comments based on flood mapping support
and opposition, and then refined the comments further into themes including personal safety and
high insurance rates.
Thematic Coding Results
Flood mapping support
Most of the articles (87/112 or 78 per cent) quote experts that approve of flood mapping or approve
of the need to update flood maps. These articles frame the lack of quality flood mapping in Canada
as negative. Varied experts in these articles note that federal, provincial, and municipal
governments are failing their citizens because Canada lacks coordination and implementation of
flood mapping.i Only 22 of the articles that approve of flood mapping include quotes from residents
supportive of the action. In these articles, citizens often state their desire to know that their
financial security is at risk before building, investing in or simply living at their homes.ii The following
sections describe the key messages that emerged from those articles.
We want to know about the potential loss of a home or asset before investment
In all 22 of the articles that convey flood mapping support, people want to know about potential loss
that could result from flood mapping. For example, an article about rising rivers across Canada
3 Limitations to media analysis include finding quotes from citizens rather than providing a government/expert
perspective and representing comments related to local jurisdictions. Within this analysis 40% of the articles originate
from Quebec, with another 40% representing the Maritimes, and 20% representing articles originating from Ontario,
Alberta, and British Columbia. Moreover, many articles that reference flood mapping might also focus on the
complex subjects of climate change, flood adaptation/mitigation, housing markets, and the insurance industry.
points out the need for flood mapping, with a resident stating that if she knew the flood risk of living
near the Ottawa River then she “wouldn't have bought the home."iii
While the majority of 2019 media articles from Quebec focus on mistakes in a province-wide flood
mapping program, articles from 2018 focused on the need for flood mapping. In that year, people
expressed dismay after learning that their homes were close enough to the St. Lawrence river to
experience flooding.iv Residents want correct information about flood risk before land/property
purchase. Residents received confusing or incorrect information about the flood risk, or no
information, prior to their investment. Moreover, a British Columbia resident states that he
understands the need for up-to-date flood maps to learn about the risk of losing his home, while
also stating that flooding is “quite stressful.”v
We want access to up-to-date flood maps
Residents convey their disappointment at the lack of flood mapping information available to them.
For example, articles from New Brunswick in 2018 positively discuss the fact that coastal residents in
2019 will have access to up-to-date maps to assess impacts from floodwaters.vi Likewise, an article
and resident perspective in Nova Scotia comments that “mapping substantiates the risk.”vii
We want economic benefits or opportunities from flood mapping
Three articles note the economic opportunities of flood mapping. An opinion piece from Nova Scotia
begins by stating that the global business and insurance industries all agree that “every dollar spent
on adaptation measures [such as flood mapping] saves four dollars in repair and rebuilding costs.”viii
The article later notes that the province is well suited to mapping work and coastal land-use
planning, potentially bringing needed jobs.
We want to feel safe and secure
Four of the supportive articles quote residents’ desire for individual safety. An article in the analysis
notes that municipal representatives echo sentiments shared by residents where “everybody wants
to feel safe in their community.”ix The articles that focus on public safety reference the ability for
flood maps to indicate personal risk. A resident in Quebec says "I think [planning is] a good step,"
adding that he's looking forward to hearing how he can best “protect himself from flooding.”x
We want to protect landscapes we care about through adaptation and mitigation
Six of the supportive articles imply the need to protect landscapes wherein the use of "aging dikes
combined with documented rising water levels and increased frequencies and intensity of weather
events enhances the need for floodplain mapping.”xi Experts reference varied approaches to climate
mitigation.xii Residents largely, however, recommend the adaptation option of building homes and
dikes higher in flood approval articles.xiii
We decided that it is not worth the risk to rebuild on our familial home/land
Three articles quote residents expressing sadness at moving away from their homes, but they would
rather avoid the risk of flooding. The residents that commented on leaving their homes have
experienced flooding but will not risk another flood. After expressing her sadness at leaving, a
resident in New Brunswick states that “even today when you look at how far away the lake is, it's
hard to believe that the flood actually happened.”xiv
We want government action to provide mapping and flood risk information
The majority of the supportive articles cite the need for help from government to perform necessary
flood mapping, and are critical of the current lack of standardization in provincial maps.xv "The
provincial and federal governments seem very slow to recognize the concerns that we as residents
are trying to portray to them."
Flood mapping disapproval
Media analysis also resulted in 25 articles (22 per cent) with direct quotes – including from local
residents – opposing flood mapping activities. Opposition often occurs if a flood map indicates that
an individual’s home is in a high-risk flood zone, because that home may be subject to higher
insurance rates, delays related to home build or renovations, or resale challenges. A flood map that
dissuades development means that people cannot live at or near what are often desirable
waterfront properties. Nova Scotians, like many Canadians, have lived by water for centuries, so
waterfront homes or properties are often handed down in families. The following themes emerging
from the oppositional articles.
We do not want to lose our homes, potential homes, or largest assets
All of the oppositional articles express concern for potential or recent loss. For instance, protests in
2016 delayed a Shubenacadie River floodplain rezoning plan due to concerns over property values. A
resident notes that designating his home as high flood risk meant that his property is going to drop
its value by 30 to 40 per cent.xvi Similarly, a new designation applied to a property after mapping in
provinces (like Quebec) has led to construction freezes after a flood – leaving residents homeless.xvii
Residents worry about flood mapping lowering the value of their homes and losing their homes. The
majority of comments express the difficulty of selling a property, or taking government buyouts, and
being forced to move at a financial loss. An article that quotes a couple in New Brunswick notes that
they lived in their house since 1987, they have a mortgage, and they cannot afford to buy or build a
new home. In order to prevent further flood damage, they recently lived in their camper and spent
$50,000 to raise their home by 7 feet.xviii Like this couple, residents all over Canada cite the concern
of property due to flood mapping and consequent housing devaluation.
We do not need access to up-to-date flood maps
Some oppositional comments express confusion at the need for up-to-date flood mapping. Many
2019 public comments from Quebec note the erroneous inclusion of citizens properties within the
province’s recently made and inaccurate flood zone maps, alongside previously out-of-date and
inaccurate flood maps.xix
We do not want to experience high insurance rates
Five articles (5/25 = 20 per cent) that focus on flood mapping loss also mention loss or potential loss
of an individual’s property through increasing insurance rates or lack of insurance.xx Although four
articles state that insurers offer products for overland and coastal flooding, they also note that high-
risk homes may be uninsurable, or if insurance is available, it may be unaffordable.xxi
We already feel safe and secure at our property due to flood mitigation and adaptation measures
Four articles that criticize government flood maps call on the government to re-implement hard
structures, such as dikes or berms, or require homeowners to raise their properties.xxii
We already feel safe because we rarely experience flooding
Similarly, residents in nine articles that critique recent flood maps reference their lived history at
that location, note that their property did not flood during significant flood events, and conclude
that their homes/communities should not be placed in those flood zones.xxiii In 2016, when East
Hants designated a high-risk floodplain along the Shubenacadie River, resident responses compared
other communities by stating "It’s not something that floods regularly, like the town of Truro. Even
Elmsdale floods more than Shubenacadie does."xxiv
We know how to protect landscapes that we care about
Residents in Nova Scotia, and elsewhere, have dealt with flooding marshland for centuries. An
article notes that farmers reclaimed land from tidal marshes using ancient drainage systems, first
constructed by Acadian settlers in 1671. A resident in Amherst speaking about his farmland notes
that “there's a lot of history to how that marshland got developed, how fertile that soil is, and why
we should be protecting it.”xxv
We have a strong connection to our familial home/land
Media analysis indicates residents’ aversion to leave their familial homes. Many homes in high-risk
zones have been in the same families for generations and residents worry about their potential loss.
For instance, a couple from Alberta initially agreed to a provincial buyout to demolish their home
because they discovered that their house would not be able to be sold later. The articles states,
however, that because it was their “home” they decided to “fight to keep it.”xxvi
We want government action to remove us from the risk flood mapping presents
Many residents would rather see inaction or retraction, as evidenced by seeking to be removed
from high-risk designations. One Sainte Anne-de-Bellevue resident included in a mapped flood zone
quipped that for his home to qualify as being in the proposed flood zone, “the Arctic would have to
melt.”xxvii
Social Science Interpretations Of Media Discourse
The 47 articles analyzed above convey mixed and contradictory perspectives. Some government
officials and experts highlight the need for flood mapping. Residents, meanwhile, wish mapping had
occurred before they bought, while others oppose the idea largely because they want to be able to
stay, develop or sell. This is an intractable problem if all individuals are treated the same – current
residents and potential future ones – but is easily resolved toward the status quo (no mapping) in a
democratic system that privileges current voters and taxpayers.
Social science can help explain individual opposition to flood mapping through many overlapping
theories, including, but not limited to, multiple forms of cognitive biases and bounded rationality in
decision-making. Contrary to our self-image, humans do not follow exclusively rational decision-
making behaviour. Daniel Kahneman notes there are two modes of operation of the brain:xxviii
• System 1: quick, instinctive and, sometimes, emotional responses to daily decisions. We make
these decisions quickly, in which case System 1 is prone to certain biases, limitations, and
systematic errors.xxix
• System 2: effortful and slow thinking that requires considerable concentration. When it is
engaged, it is sometimes able to override system 1 biases.xxx This kind of careful reflection is
what we hope to foster when we use the ‘reasonable person model’ described later.
Because careful thinking requires more energy, System 1 often takes over decision-making,
particularly when a person feels they are under threat. System 1 thinking then biases our
perceptions xxxi and affects our ability to make connections, analyze information, and draw
conclusions.xxxii Bounded rationality means we can often take short-cuts in our thinking, relying on
the opinions of other people like us (Normative bias) or using other heuristics like political values, or
filter out things we do not think we need to know, like gradual changes in our surroundings.
In social science, loss aversion refers to people's tendency to prefer avoiding losses over acquiring
equivalent gains. For instance, if someone loses a house to flooding, there is a possibility that they
will re-build at that same location because they might feel that the loss of leaving is larger than the
possible gain of relocation.xxxiii This happens in part because what a resident already has is a known,
and what she does not is uncertain. This uncertainty is also most of what drives status quo bias.
Similarly, cognitive dissonance refers to a situation involving conflicting beliefs and behaviors.
Someone experiencing this seeks to align their beliefs with their actions, to avoid the discomfort of
dissonance, but because actions are harder to change, often end up changing their beliefs to suit
their actions. For instance, dissonance could occur if residents are aware of flood risk, but want to
rebuild their home in a floodplain. They might suppress their belief in flood risk so that they can
rebuild without worry.
Solution aversion works much the same way, and like cognitive dissonance it is also typically
unconscious. This is where a strong dislike of a solution - such as the need to move one’s home or
relocate - causes someone to reject the problem that a solution has been identified to solve. As
such, someone who does not have a waterfront home may find it easy to say that coastal threats are
high and more regulation is needed on the coast, whereas someone with waterfront will reject the
idea that coastal threats are high as the solution is abhorrent to them.
There are many examples where pre-conceived notions of flood risk inform the decision to approve
or disapprove flood mapping. Motivated reasoning occurs when people primarily use reasoning to
justify pre-conceived notions rather than carefully reviewing new or other information.xxxiv For
instance, a resident might oppose flood mapping by stating: “My property got floodplain zoned, I
can't sell it at full value. It's been like that for 20 years, it hasn't flooded, this is all bull.”xxxv
Finally, climax thinking happens when an individual perceives their current landscape as the one
that is the “intended end point for their given context.”xxxvi Climax thinking provides an “emotional
‘lock-in’” and “social infrastructure that rejects change to retain identity, remain in an area, and/or
honour past generations.”xxxvii Climax thinking is exemplified by rejection of the need to accept new
conditions (e.g. new floodplain delineations) in places they care about, but and insisting they are
entitled to keep living as they have planned.
Social Leverage Points For Better Public Discourse
Social scientists address the above cognitive biases and limited reasoning by using the reasonable
person model, trust theory and communicative frames.
The reasonable person model stresses the fact that most individuals are more likely to be
reasonable when they are provided with a comfortable setting and consideration of their cognitive
needs (e.g. good coffee, breaks); tools to understand a situation; the sense that they feel heard and
respected; and assurance that their engagement can make a difference.xxxviii When we want
meaningful engagement from the public, it is important to create the conditions in which people can
use their System 2 brains. This means providing a room with natural light, good coffee, snacks and
breaks. This means designing interactions for the kind of knowledge and relationships that
attendees have, rather than expecting them to engage in unfamiliar activities or those that expose
them uncomfortably to peers. This also means engagement that is meaningful rather than
tokenistic.
Leveraging the reasonable person model calls for an understanding of trust ecology, or what makes
a person willing to accept their vulnerability to another person or organization when future
conditions are unknown. Marc Stern and colleagues have described the antecedents of such trust in
terms of the characteristics of the ‘trustee’ (the entity being trusted): ability (technological
competency), integrity (moral competency), benevolence, and also the subjective variable of
charisma, which can only be attributed to an individual rather than an organization. In the context
of flood mapping, this involves:
• Perceived ability of the municipality to run a fair and rigorous process of flood mapping, and
the ability of the consultants that are hired to do that work competently;
• The demonstrated integrity of the municipality in its past dealings with citizens, and the
integrity of any hired consulting firm with their clients;
• Whether citizens feel that their municipality is seeking to ‘do the right thing’ by their citizens
by carrying out flood mapping; and,
• The personal characteristics of those individuals with whom citizens interface in the process
of flood mapping.
Researchers have found also that social trust (aka interpersonal trust) can be more important to
behaviour change than institutional trust. Whether people accept flood mapping may have as much
to do with how they feel about their fellow citizens, and the relational dynamics of who is seen to
‘win’ and to ‘lose’ by that process, as how they feel about any municipal representatives or hired
consultants.
Finally, studies indicate that people often think in terms of unconscious structures called
“frames.”xxxix Social scientists often use communicative frames to convey information and elicit
specific influence responses. Often, we can elicit certain responses by changing the language of a
message. However, framing must be relatable to the reader and work emotionally. Meaningful or
moral framing is based on the premise that people of varying backgrounds might place importance
on different moral values to enhance an argument.xl Recent focus groups with coastal residents in
Nova Scotia suggest that two moral framings increase citizen’s perceptions of the importance of
acting sooner than later: a future framing (we have a duty to act to protect future coastal
generations) and a collaborative framing (we have worked together in the past to overcome great
challenges, and can do so again).
i McClearn, M. (2019, April, 23). Poor flood-risk maps, or none at all, are keeping Canadian
communities in flood-prone areas. Globe and Mail. Retrieved from:
www.theglobeandmail.com
ii Forgeron, D. (2019, July 4). Governments must take bold action on floods. Globe and Mail.
Retrieved from: www.theglobeandmail.com
iii Tutton, M. (2018, May,18). Rivers rising: Floods in British Columbia, New Brunswick a warning
of what's to come. Waterloo Region Record. Retrieved from: https://www.eureka.ca
iv CBC News. (2018, May, 10). 'I got fooled, basically': Confusion over flood zones leaves Laval
man homeless and $20K in debt. CBC News. Retrieved from:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/i-got-fooled-basically-confusion-over-flood-
zones-leaves-laval-man-homeless-and-20k-in-debt-1.4656114
v CBC News. (2019, January, 07). Residents in Okanagan-Similkameen encouraged to
prepare for future flooding. CBC News. Retrieved from: www.cbc.ca
vi Gould, A. (2018, June, 28). Flood-hazard mapping coming to the province in 2019. CBC
News. Retrieved from: www.cbc.ca
vii Tower, K. (January 10, 2019). New ambulance building in Sackville being built in flood-risk
zone. Truro News. Retrieved from: https://nouveau-eureka-cc.ezproxy.library.dal.ca
viii Graham, J. (2014, June, 11). RISING SEA LEVELS; Coastal mapping could shore up N.S. The
Chronicle Herald. Retrieved from: https://nouveau-eureka-cc.ezproxy.library.dal.ca
ix Vancouver Island Free Daily. (2019-07-11). Tofino, Ucluelet receive total of $300K for
emergency planning project. Retrieved from: https://nouveau-eureka-
cc.ezproxy.library.dal.ca
x CBC News. (2019, August, 6). Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue presents new emergency plan to
deal with floods. CBC News. Retrieved from: www.cbc.ca
xi Tutton, M. (2019, April, 08). Nova Scotia is one 'perfect storm' away from being cut off from
Canada. CBC News. Retrieved from: www.cbc.ca
xii Powell, L. (2018, March, 15). Research scientist’s maps show how sea level rise will affect
Nova Scotia communities. Annapolis Spectator. Retrieved from: https://nouveau-eureka-
cc.ezproxy.library.dal.ca
xiii Campbell, F. (2018, October, 10). High tides threaten low-lying Isthmus of Chignecto. The
Chroncile Herald. Retrieved from: https://nouveau-eureka-cc.ezproxy.library.dal.ca
xiv Purdon, N. & Palleja, L. (June 15, 2016). 'It's like that friend who betrayed you': Emotional toll
of flooding is felt long after waters recede. Toronto: CBC News
xv CBC News. (2018, May, 10).
xvi Patil, A. (2016, July, 12). Shubenacadie River floodplain rezoning plan delayed. CBC News.
Retrieved from: www.cbc.ca
xvii CBC News. (2019, July, 19). Municipalities dealing with burden of adjusting Quebec flood
zone map before deadline. CBC News. Retrieved from: www.cbc.ca
xviii Ibrahim, H. (2019, May, 22). Move up or move out: the scramble to adapt to flooding. CBC
News. Retrieved from: www.cbc.ca
xix Jantak, J. (2019, July, 11). Pincourt advises affected residents to contact government to
correct flood zone map inaccuracies. The Journal. Retrieved from: https://nouveau-eureka-
cc.ezproxy.library.dal.ca
xx Henriquez, G. (2019, August, 06). Quebec removes 17 other municipalities from flood zone
maps. Global News. Retrieved from: https://nouveau-eureka-cc.ezproxy.library.dal.ca
xxi Forgeron, D. (2019, July 4)
xxii CBC News. (2019, July, 19).
xxiii Tower, K. (2019, January, 10). Reversing rezoning decision not an option, says mayor.
Sackville Tribune. Retrieved from: https://nouveau-eureka-cc.ezproxy.library.dal.ca
xxiv Bradley, S. (2016, July, 28). East Hants council votes to designate area as high-risk
floodplain. CBC News. Retrieved from: www.cbc.ca
xxv Luck, S. (September 6, 2019). Hurricanes threaten infrastructure, farmland in Atlantic
Canada. Nova Scotia: CBC News.
xxvi McGarvey, D. (2019, June, 18). High River has moved on 5 years after devasting flood, but
some still face uncertain future. CBC News. Retrieved from: www.cbc.ca
xxvii Woodhouse, K. (2019, July, 10). Flood map forum draws jeers from West Islanders. The
Suburban. Retrieved from: https://nouveau-eureka-cc.ezproxy.library.dal.ca
xxviii Stern, M. (2018). Social science theory for environmental sustainability: A practical
guide (First ed., Techniques in ecology and conservation series). Oxford, United Kingdom:
Oxford University Press.
xxix Ibid
xxx Ibid
xxxi Ibid
xxxii Ibid
xxxiii Ibid
xxxiv Stern, 2019, p. 122
xxxv Mcphee, J. (2018, August, 14).
xxxvi Sherren, K. (2019). (in press), From climax thinking toward a non-equilibrium approach to
public good landscape change. Forthcoming in Energy Impacts: A Multidisciplinary
Exploration of North American Energy Development, co-edited by Jeffrey Jacquet, Julia
Haggerty and Gene Theodori (Social Ecology Press & Utah State University Press). P.2
xxxvii Ibid. p. 3
xxxviii Ibid
xxxix Lakoff, G. (2010). Why it Matters How We Frame the Environment. Environmental
Communication, 4(1), 70-81.
xl Ibid
DRAFT Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping
Appendix B: Technical Specifications
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications i
Contents
CHAPTER 1 Minimum Specified Standards .................................................................................... 3
1.1 Return period or frequency of flood events to analyse: .................................................... 3
1.1.1 Application .............................................................................................................. 3
1.1.2 Analysis ................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Projection Horizons for the analysis of future flood events ............................................... 4
1.3 Required Analysis Scenarios ............................................................................................... 4
1.3.1. Precipitation:.......................................................................................................... 4
1.3.2 Coastal Water Levels: ............................................................................................. 5
CHAPTER 2 Potential Additional Flood Mechanisms ...................................................................... 7
2.1 Criteria and Roles for Selecting Mechanisms ..................................................................... 7
2.2 Checklist of Flood Mechanisms .......................................................................................... 8
2.3 Mechanisms Relevant in Riverine Floodplains ................................................................. 10
2.4 Mechanisms Relevant in Coastal Floodplains ................................................................... 12
2.5 Mechanisms Relevant in Estuarine Floodplains ............................................................... 13
2.6 Mechanisms Relevant to Future and Climate Change Conditions ................................... 13
2.6.1 Additional development scenarios ....................................................................... 13
2.6.2 Risk-Based analysis ............................................................................................... 14
CHAPTER 3 Topographic and Bathymetric Data Requirements .................................................... 15
3.1 Minimum Topographic Data Requirements ..................................................................... 15
3.2 Bathymetric Data .............................................................................................................. 15
3.2.1 Watercourses ........................................................................................................ 16
3.2.2 Lakes ..................................................................................................................... 17
3.3 Strategy for Minimal Data Availability .............................................................................. 17
CHAPTER 4 Determine Hydraulic Structure Requirements ........................................................... 18
4.1 Inlet and Outlet Characteristics ........................................................................................ 18
4.2 Location of Cross-Sections Around Structure ................................................................... 19
4.3 Strategy for Minimal Data Availability .............................................................................. 20
CHAPTER 5 Consideration of Collection System Interactions with Watercourse ........................... 21
CHAPTER 6 Hydrologic and Hydraulic Modelling Requirements ................................................... 22
6.1 Hydrology .......................................................................................................................... 22
6.1.1 Velocity-area Discharge Measurement Collection ............................................... 22
6.1.2 Velocity-area Discharge Measurement Collection ............................................... 23
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications ii
6.1.3 Flood Frequency Analysis ..................................................................................... 24
6.1.4 Hydrologic Modelling ............................................................................................ 26
6.2 Hydraulic Modelling .......................................................................................................... 28
6.2.1 Approved Modelling Platforms ............................................................................. 29
6.2.2 Modelling Dykes or Berms .................................................................................... 30
6.2.3 Modelling Blockages at Structures ....................................................................... 30
6.2.4 Ice Jam Assessment .............................................................................................. 31
CHAPTER 7 Model Calibration Requirements .............................................................................. 32
7.1 Calibration Process ........................................................................................................... 32
7.2 Selection of Calibration Events ......................................................................................... 33
7.3 Calibration Data Sources ................................................................................................... 33
7.3.1 Rainfall .................................................................................................................. 33
7.3.2 Coastal water levels .............................................................................................. 33
7.3.3 River flows and water levels ................................................................................. 34
7.4 Minimum Calibration Standard ........................................................................................ 34
7.5 Documenting the Calibration Results ............................................................................... 35
7.6 Sensitivity Analysis ............................................................................................................ 35
CHAPTER 8 Standardized Mapping Visuals .................................................................................. 36
CHAPTER 9 Reporting / Required Documentation ....................................................................... 38
9.1 Reporting deliverables ...................................................................................................... 38
9.2 Mapping Deliverables ....................................................................................................... 38
A ....................................................................................................................................... References
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 3
CHAPTER 1 MINIMUM SPECIFIED STANDARDS
This chapter discusses the baseline standards that should be followed in Nova Scotia. These are to be
applied to all flood mapping studies. Additional elements can be studied if they are found to be present,
which are described in Chapter 2.
In this chapter, a discussion is presented on how to interpret return periods for various events, and
more specifically, flood events, which are the result of a combination of factors. Projection horizons are
defined, and a description of the minimum criteria to be applied in the analyses is presented.
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Statement of
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1% AEP (1 in 100 Year event)
5% AEP (1 in 20 Year event)
Projection Horizons for the
analysis of future flood events
Land Use Planning
Horizons
2050 (25-30 Year planning horizon)
2100 (75-80 Year planning horizon)
Required Analysis Scenarios
Precipitation
Coastal Water Level
Climate Change
1.1 Return period or frequency of flood events to analyse:
1.1.1 Application
The current Statement of Provincial Interest on Flood Risk Areas establishes the 1 in 20-year return
event as the floodway and the 1 in 100-year return event as the floodway fringe extents. This is to be
considered the minimum acceptable provincial standard. These events are more clearly explained in
terms of probability of occurrence or Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP). The 1% AEP (equivalent to
the concept of the 1 in 100-year return event) and 5% AEP (equivalent to the concept of the 1 in 20 year
return event) should be used by both the municipality and the consultant when carrying out the flood
study and engaging with stakeholders and the public.
1.1.2 Analysis
The province requires that flood extents be provided according to 1% and 5% AEP. In some cases, the
probability of flooding events is causally linked to the probability of higher precipitation or coastal water
level (i.e., the 1% precipitation or coastal water level event causes the 1% flood event). However, in
many other cases, there are additional inputs and processes that influence flooding and AEP. To give an
example, water levels may be locally increased because of tide gate operation or blockages within the
system. Therefore, flood scenarios associated with a specific AEP need to produce flood extents based
on any reasonably foreseeable mechanism that generates high water levels. The objective is to select a
representative set of scenarios and conditions that together, can produce a more realistic and locally
appropriate set of flood lines associated with a given AEP.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 4
1.2 Projection Horizons for the analysis of future flood events
In conjunction with the development of these specifications, the Province consulted with multiple
academic institutions to develop a standardized framework for the selection of scenarios and the
incorporation of future climate changes into riverine and coastal flood mapping in Nova Scotia.
Literature reviews were conducted in various fields, the results were discussed with the province in two
workshops, and the outputs of the work were summarized in a set of specifications and
justification/recommendation: the Standard for the incorporation of climate change into riverine and
coastal flood mapping in Nova Scotia (Jamieson, R., Kurylyk, B., Rapaport, E., Manuel, P., Van Proosdij,
D., Beltrami, H., Hayward, J., KarisAllen, J., Clark, K., Tusz, C., Jahncke, R., García-García, A., & Cuesta-
Valero, F.,J. (2019)). Henceforth this document will be referred to as the Climate Change Standard. The
Climate Change Standard is included in the RFP package and provided to the consultants with the Nova
Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping document and Appendix B: Technical Specifications.
As per the Climate Change Standard, the time horizons to be used for flood mapping of future
conditions are 2050 and 2100. Adjustments to rainfall and coastal water levels to account for climate
change should follow this document.
The municipalities will provide information to the selected consultant on the potential future changes to
land use at those time horizons. However, the consultant should also refer to the applicable Municipal
Planning Strategies to understand current and future land use in the study area.
1.3 Required Analysis Scenarios
The minimum analysis scenarios prescribed by the Climate Change Standard are for precipitation and
coastal water levels (storm surge and tide), for both current and future conditions. Since watersheds can
vary greatly in size across the province, and several have a time of concentration larger than 24 hours,
the standard duration of rainfall events is set to 48 hours. The 24-hour total rainfall amount will still
follow the IDF data, but the accreting and receding limbs will be extended to include the additional data
up to 48 hours.
1.3.1. Precipitation:
Current: Current 5% and 1% AEP precipitation events are obtained from the nearest Environment and
Climate Change Canada station with IDF curves. The duration of the design rainfall events shall be 48
hours.
1.3.1.1 WINTER RAINFALL EVENT
In addition to the scenarios prescribed by the Province through the Climate Change Standard, winter
rainfall events shall be investigated. Precipitation needs to be monitored for at least 3 months between
October and May if there is no existing data. Since winter conditions in Nova Scotia (i.e., December 1st
to April 1st) include many freeze-thaw cycles, the likelihood of rainfall (as opposed to snowfall)
occurring during winter is high and generally expected to increase with Climate Change. This should be
investigated as part of the minimum scenarios. The following characteristics are to be followed:
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 5
Rainfall on Frozen Ground Conditions
It is to be assumed that the ground is 100% impervious. The surface roughness of the various
watershed land cover types (grass, light forest to dense forest, wetlands, light development to dense
development, etc.) can be kept the same, as it is likely that the various land cover types would
generally maintain their surface roughness (grass would be covered in snow, forest surfaces would
remain uneven, and roads and parking lots would be ploughed).
1.3.2 Coastal Water Levels:
Current: The creation of Hydrographic Vertical Separation Surfaces (HyVSEPS) for tidal variables (e.g.
HHWLT) based on oceanographic models, observed water levels, GPS observations, sea level trends,
satellite altimetry, and a geoid model provide more accurate flood modelling (Robin et al., 2016). The
continuous surface model provides better resolution at the local level, particularly for areas that are not
close to a real-time tide gauge. It provides a common reference frame for tying in Chart Datum (CD) to
both CGVD28 and CGVD2013, linking marine to terrestrial surfaces. Given the range of CD to geodetic
conversions provided in previous technical reports, and low confidence in predictions at numerous CHS
stations, it is recommended the previous approach of tying Relative Sea Level Rise (RSLR) projections to
Higher High Water Large Tide (HHWLT) at Canadian Hydrographic Survey (CHS) stations be abandoned
and replaced with the use of HyVSEPS and the new RSLR surface from the Geological Survey of Canada
(James et al., 2021).
Caution in the application of this approach should be applied where there is the possible risk of loss of
public confidence in flood extents depicted if extreme water level projections decrease (due to
decreases in modelled HHWLT). This is precisely the case for the Upper Bay of Fundy. At present, it is
recommended that the new 2017 HHWLT values NOT be applied in areas of the Upper Bay of Fundy
where there are extensive intertidal zones which are known to be poorly resolved in oceanographic
models.
Estimates of a location’s high water distribution, which forms in response to high tides and storms, are
needed to assess how and when flood frequencies are likely to change under future RSLR. A variety of
approaches have been applied in the past including establishment of a benchmark storm, hindcasting
based on historical wind speeds, applying return probability statistics to long term records (> 19 yr) of
total sea levels from tide gauge data, or storm surge modelling. These storm surge events are typically
added to RSLR and HHWLT to determine an upper bound of flood hazard conditions. For further
information and data sources see Appendix D of the Climate Change Standard (Refer to Section 5:
Storm Surge – Extreme Water Levels).
Descriptions of coastal process terms used in this standard are provided below:
1. Higher High Water Large Tide
The HHWLT is the average of the highest high waters, one from each of 19 years of predictions. The
value should be obtained from the most representative tide gauge station from the Canadian
Hydrographic Service. A representative tide gauge station is generally available for most areas around
Nova Scotia, except in areas with limited coverage and/or a rapidly varying tidal range (including but
not limited to the Bay of Fundy and Minas Basin, tidal inlets, Bras d’Or Lakes). In those instances, local
tide gauge measurements of at least 1 month in duration should be undertaken to develop an
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 6
estimate of the HHWLT, possibly combined with a calibrated hydrodynamic model as required, for
example in the upper Bay of Fundy or the other examples noted above.
2. Storm Surge
Storm surges are created by meteorological effects on sea level, such as wind set-up and low
atmospheric pressure, and can be defined as the difference between the observed water level during
a storm and the predicted astronomical tide. The event with the relevant return period should be
selected. The value should be derived from long-term tide gauge measurements for the area, and/or
modeling. Typically, estimation of the N year return value should be based on an observation record
at least N/3 years long. The permanent operating tide gauges relevant for NS coastal waters are at
Halifax, Sydney, Yarmouth, Saint John (Lower Bay of Fundy) and Charlottetown (Northumberland
Strait). Additional tide gauge sites in NS with past multi-year records include Pictou and Point Tupper.
It is cautioned that plausible upper limit storm surges due to a direct hurricane hit may exceed
estimates based on limited and localized historical observations. This is particularly relevant along the
coastline facing the Atlantic Ocean, as recorded in Halifax Harbour during Hurricane Juan in 2003.
Also, the Bay of Fundy’s Saxby Gale in 1869 is an example of extreme event not included in recorded
data. Typical 1% AEP storm surge values in the region can range from 1 to 2 m. Storm surges tend to
be more severe within shallow areas, bays, or estuaries. In terms of broad geographical areas, storm
surges tend to be highest within the following areas, in decreasing order of intensity: 1) NS North
shore and Upper Bay of Fundy, 2) Atlantic, 3) lower Bay of Fundy
3. Sea Level Rise
This should be considered using the relevant emissions scenario (RCP8.5) and time horizon (2050 and
2100), as specified in the Climate Change Standard. SLR will accelerate due to climate change,
causing increased risks of coastal erosion and flooding. As a result, extreme water levels with a low
return period today will be common in a few decades.
The following section identifies and highlights the need to consider additional input scenarios to provide
a more representative approach (e.g., return periods of snowpack depth, climate change impacts on
tidal amplification, etc.) to overall flooding risks at the site.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 7
CHAPTER 2 POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL FLOOD MECHANISMS
This section provides information on various additional mechanisms that may contribute to high water
levels. Riverine, coastal, and estuarine mechanisms that contribute to high water levels under current
scenarios are presented first. These are then considered with future changes to land use and climate.
The mechanisms are provided in a checklist and include a Factor of Safety. This Factor of Safety
accommodates mechanisms that are expected to be present in the area but can not be properly studied
in the flood assessment.
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Ice jamming
Snowmelt during a rainfall event
Dam operation
Changing risks according to season
Hydraulic structure operation
Debris jamming
Mechanisms Relevant in
Coastal Floodplains
Wave setup
Wave run-up and overtopping
Tidal amplification
Seiching
Joint Probability Analysis Storm surge and rainfall
Other combination of events
2.1 Criteria and Roles for Selecting Mechanisms
In the Appendix A: Guidance Document, municipalities procuring flood mapping are directed to obtain
records of historical events, and consult with staff, stakeholders, and local experts to understand local
flood mechanisms. Water level measurements should also be collected prior to the flood study, to
better understand the presence of certain mechanisms. Some municipalities may have the capacity to
carry out water level monitoring themselves, but most will not, and will rely heavily on consultants. This
may mean there is a separate data gathering project or that the water level monitoring is included in the
flood study.
Depending on budget considerations, preliminary data and information gathering, and advice from the
consultant, the municipality should be able to identify the relevant flood mechanisms to include in the
flood study. The consultant will review the selected flood mechanisms proposed by the municipality and
confirm that these are appropriate. The client engineer reviewer will also provide comments on the
selected mechanisms and help with a decision if there is disagreement between the municipality and
the consultant.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 8
Thus, the criteria for determining site-specific flood scenarios are:
1. Extracting historical records and local knowledge (municipality)
2. Conducting water level measurements (municipality and/or consultant)
3. Expert experience (consultant)
4. External experience (client engineer)
2.2 Checklist of Flood Mechanisms
The flood mechanisms presented in Table 2.2 are further described in the following sections. The
completed checklist will inform the scope of work for the flood study and would be in addition to the
Minimum Specified Standards (Chapter 1).
By using the checklist in the development of the Request for Proposals the municipality has a starting
point as they try to identify flood mechanisms. Any data gathering (e.g., water level measurements) or
meetings with staff, stakeholders, community groups, interested parties, and the public will also support
the identification of additional flood mechanisms.
If a mechanism is known to exist, but available expertise, data, or budget, do not allow those
mechanisms to be studied, the Factor of Safety included in the table can be used. This approach is
supported by Nova Scotia’s existing precautionary principle contained in the province’s Environment Act
(1994), to address uncertainty: “the precautionary principle will be used in decision-making so that
where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, the lack of full scientific certainty shall not be
used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation” [Section 2(b)(ii)].
Climate change is layered on existing scenarios. Therefore, the scenarios identified in the checklist will
have their rainfall amount and sea levels, increased by the respective values prescribed in the Climate
Change Standard.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 9
Table 2.2: Checklist of Potential Flood Mechanisms
Number Flood Mechanism
(Check if believed to be present)
Factor of Safety to include if it is present but
cannot be studied (Check if included)
Existing Climate Conditions
Riverine Flooding
1 Snow accumulation and
snowmelt during a rainfall event
Increase rainfall amount by Extreme Snow
Depth Climate Normal from closest
Environment Canada Station, over 24 hours. 1
cm of snow equivalent to 1 mm of runoff
generated is suitable for this analysis.
2 Ice jamming Add 0.3 m to all water level model results
3 Debris jamming Assume structure is completely blocked with
debris during event
4 Dam operation Increase rainfall amount by the estimated
volume impounded, divided by the tributary
area, over 24 hours.
5 Hydraulic structure operation Assume structure is closed during event
6 Seasonal conditions Add 15% to rainfall amount
Coastal Flooding
7a Short wave process - wave setup Add 20% of estimated maximum breaking
wave height (e.g., 0.2 m for a 1 m breaking
wave)
7b or 7c Short wave process - wave run-
up or overtopping
Add potential maximum estimated impact
based on observations, to be between 1 and 5
times estimated maximum breaking wave
height
8a Long wave process - tidal
amplification
A full assessment is required, since the impact
can vary greatly
8b Long wave process - seiching A full assessment is required, since the impact
can vary greatly
Joint analysis of various events1:
1 If two events are in fact independent, combining them would lead to a return period of 1 in 10,000 years (or
more if more events are combined). Research suggests that some areas show near -independence, while others
show strong dependence (https://info.ornl.gov/sites/publications/Files/Pub136789.pdf). The main issue here is
that there exists no analysis on this topic in Nova Scotia, so it is difficult to support one approach or another (i.e.,
complete dependence or complete independence). Historically, either the mechanisms are considered completely
independently, or as proposed here, a 50% AEP is combined with a 1% AEP. This combination strikes an
appropriate balance between conservatism and accuracy for the Factor of Safety.
The concept of joint probability does not only apply to estuaries, but also to other combinations of flood
mechanisms. For example, the worst-case scenario for dam operation may coincide with the 1% AEP storm, in
which case these should be considered jointly. The municipality may choose, for some site -specific flood scenarios,
to consider several flooding mechanisms simultaneously. If this is the case, the consultant is to model these in
combinations that are realistic for 5% and 1% AEP.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 10
9 Storm surge and rainfall Combine a 50% AEP rainfall event with a 1%
AEP storm surge, and a 1% AEP rainfall event
with a 50% AEP storm surge
10 Other combination of events Add potential maximum estimated impact
11 Other: Add potential maximum estimated impact
Future Climate Change Conditions
12 Additional development
scenarios
If required by Client, this needs to be included
in the study
13 Risk-Based Analysis If required by Client, this needs to be included
in the study
Best efforts should be made to adhere to the instructions provided for each mechanism in the following
sections.
2.3 Mechanisms Relevant in Riverine Floodplains
In addition to the extreme precipitation scenarios, there are many other scenarios that can be
considered for riverine floodplains. Depending on the watershed, winter conditions may have a
significant impact on water levels; the municipality should include winter conditions in the analysis.
These include the following; however, additional conditions can be added if other specific mechanisms
have been identified.
1. Snow accumulation and snowmelt during a rainfall event
2. Ice jamming
3. Debris jamming
4. Dam operation, where present
5. Hydraulic structure operation
6. Seasonal conditions
1. Snow Accumulation and Snowmelt during a Rainfall Event
To model this scenario, records of snow on the ground measured depths are to be obtained from the
closest Environment Canada climate station with at least 20 years of data. The hydrologic model used
needs to have snow accumulation and snow melting capabilities and be calibrated on events that
include snow melt. Average values are to be obtained, as well as peak values, obtained from a
statistical analysis, to derive the 1% AEP peak snow on the ground amount. Two scenarios are to be
modelled:
The 1% AEP winter rainfall event, with an average (50% AEP) snow depth that melts entirely
within 24 hours.
The 50% AEP winter rainfall event, with a 1% AEP snow depth that melts entirely within 24 hours.
The results showing the highest water levels is to be taken as representative of that scenario.
2. Ice Jamming
Rivers in Nova Scotia are often subjected to ice jams. If ice jams have been historically noted as
creating flooding risks to developed or potentially developed areas, ice jam modelling should be
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 11
considered. Ice thickness measurements should be obtained from a location as close as possible to
the study area site. If sufficient data are available, the procedure described in the Federal Hydrologic
and Hydraulic Procedures for Flood Hazard Delineation, 2019, should be followed. If insufficient data
are available, modelling should be undertaken with a suitable ice jam model.
3. Debris Jamming
Rivers in Nova Scotia can be subjected to debris jams. If debris jams have been historically noted as
creating flooding risks to developed or potentially developed areas, debris jam modelling should be
considered. Since debris jams can be very different each time they form, the analysis needs to rely on
as much field and anecdotal data as possible. An analysis of the data available needs to estimate the
amount of blockage that would normally occur at least once a year, as well as a potential 1% AEP
amount of debris blockage. Then modelling should map the highest of the annual debris jams with the
1% AEP rainfall, and the 1% AEP debris jam with the 50% AEP rainfall event.
Debris accumulation in alluvial fans is also a mechanism identified in the Federal Hydrologic and
Hydraulic Procedures for Flood Hazard Delineation, 2019 document, but it is less common in Nova
Scotia due to the smaller watersheds and steeper slopes that exist compared to other provinces. If
such a mechanism is identified, the procedures outlined in the federal document should be followed.
4. Dam Operation, where Present
Where dams are present, the owner of the dam structure should be contacted and the operational
procedures for the dams under various weather conditions should be obtained. From this, the
scenarios potentially producing the greatest water levels in the downstream watercourse should be
extracted and tested in the model, to identify the conditions producing the highest water levels. A
version of this scenario that has an estimated 1% AEP should be identified and added to the list of
types of 1% AEP events.
5. Hydraulic Structure Operation, where Present
Hydraulic structures can have many different configurations, and can include operated weirs, gates,
orifices, penstocks, flow diversions, pumps, or any other type that can impact flows or water levels. A
good understanding of the hydraulic structures must be acquired and explained in the analysis. The
likelihood of a given operational scenario or failure of a given structure must be estimated for average
(50% AEP) rainfall conditions, as well as for extreme event (1% AEP) conditions. A combination of
operation type and event that has an estimated 1% AEP should be identified and added to the list of
types of 1% AEP events.
6. Seasonal Conditions
Seasons will affect the surface roughness of the land cover types, as well as the infiltration potential.
In addition to the required scenario of rainfall on frozen ground, an analysis that includes
consideration of seasonal effects should include scenario 1 described above. Dry summer conditions,
spring snowmelt, and autumn conditions should be analysed. Each season should have a distinct set
of events (specific to that season) to support model calibration. Five models should result from this
analysis, which are (1) rainfall on frozen ground, (2) snow accumulation and snowmelt during a
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 12
rainfall event, (3) dry summer conditions, (4) spring snowmelt, and (5) autumn conditions. The outline
of all model flood lines should be the result of this analysis.
More scenarios may exist, depending on the specific characteristics of the watersheds of the target
watercourse. For example, there are many tide gates in Nova Scotia, which can be operated in various
manners, and which can also become blocked by debris, ice, or sediment accumulation. It will be up to
the municipality and the consultant carrying out the analysis to identify any additional characteristics
that may influence flooding risks.
2.4 Mechanisms Relevant in Coastal Floodplains
In addition to the minimum required scenarios, several others may need to be considered if relevant to
the study area and the municipality decides it is required. These can include:
7. Short Wave Processes
These processes can increase water levels at the coastline and need to be evaluated where vulnerable
infrastructure exists. Risks from short wave processes require evaluation through assessment of basic
wave parameters (wave height and period for locally generated wind waves or ocean swell). These
can be based on simple parametric wind-wave growth equations for enclosed bays (e.g. Jonswap
wind wave prediction charts), or nearshore wave transformation modelling for sites open to ocean
swell (any site where wave energy includes a contribution from ocean swell, as opposed to wind
waves). Wave parameters can then be used to evaluate the following effects that will influence
flooding. These mechanisms need to be evaluated using specialized software, or established standard
methodology, e.g. USACE Coastal Engineering Manual, 2002, or FEMA Coastal Flood Hazard Analysis
and Mapping Guidance.
They can include:
7a. Wave setup - the increase in mean water level, due to the presence of breaking waves. It is
typically an important component of the storm surge in exposed areas with wide beaches. Since
this is essentially an increase in the storm surge water level against the shore, it needs to be
considered where small variations are important to the protection of the site.
7b. Wave runup - the vertical extent of the wave uprush on the coastline slope, which can lead to
erosion and local flooding. Like wave setup, it should be included in the analysis where the site
could be vulnerable to such effects. If built coastal defenses exist in the area, the wave
overtopping mechanism may be more applicable.
7c. Wave overtopping (if applicable) - For areas with built coastal defences, the amount of water
discharged over a coastal defense structure. If coastal defense structures exist in the area, and
are vulnerable to water overtopping, this process should be included in the analysis.
8. Long Wave Processes
Long waves (i.e., with periods typically exceeding 20 sec) may increase the coastal flood level as
follows:
8a. Tidal amplification - occurs when the tide moves inland in a gradually narrowing inlet, which
may cause amplification of the tidal height. If the coastal inlet seems to be funnel shaped, this
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 13
should be considered. It is noted that this is a difficult phenomenon to visually witness, as it will
occur gradually over several kilometres. This is where water level measurements are valuable to
support the identification of this process.
8b. Seiching - refers to a standing wave from the natural oscillation within a partially closed body
of water. It is typically present around harbours and coastal inlets and can be triggered by wind or
waves breaking on a nearby wide beach. Standing waves can lead to higher water levels than
otherwise expected against the coast, and should be evaluated where partially enclosed areas
exist, and/or where they have been experienced by local boaters or fishermen. If such experience
exists, this process should be included in the analysis.
2.5 Mechanisms Relevant in Estuarine Floodplains
In addition to the processes mentioned above, estuarine conditions may require that extreme rainfall
and storm surge be considered jointly. Storm systems can lead to co-occurring storm surges and
extreme rainfall. In this case, it is important to consider them jointly because the impact on water levels
of their co-occurrence is greater than the sum of their individual impacts. If vulnerable populations or
infrastructure exists in areas that are affected by both the tides and river levels, a joint analysis is
recommended. If a joint analysis is selected by the municipality, the consultant needs to:
Use the closest long-duration tide gauge and rain gauge records
Conduct appropriate multivariate statistics on the co-occurrence of extreme rainfall and storm surge
events based on the measured records
Adjust the design events to better represent the results obtained
2.6 Mechanisms Relevant to Future and Climate Change Conditions
2.6.1 Additional development scenarios
In addition to the baseline scenarios for the flood line criteria that apply to existing development
conditions, the municipality must consider potential future scenarios that are specific to the study area.
These may include modifications to the current state of development of the watersheds, or the current
state of the drainage system. It may also include the possibility of ideal future stormwater management,
for example, wherein the widespread implementation of stormwater best management practices is able
to return the watershed hydrology to pre-development characteristics. If the checklist item for
additional development scenarios is selected, the municipality is requiring more than one future
development scenario to be investigated.
The projected horizons for future development shall extend to two-time horizons and consider any
public safety requirements and development restrictions:
1. To 2050, mostly reflecting currently approved development, and
Note: Tsunamis are a type of long period wave triggered by earthquakes or landslides. However,
because of Nova Scotia′s position on a trailing-edge plate margin, the risk of a tsunami is very low
(the last occurrence was in 1929 off the coast of Newfoundland). As such it is typically not
accounted for in local flood studies.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 14
2. To 2100, to include expected future development, based on municipal land use plans.
Since the principal use of flood maps is to inform Land Use By-laws and Municipal Planning Strategies,
the maps should provide insight into future conditions. As such, climate change will form a necessary
part of future conditions analyses and needs to be carefully considered.
2.6.2 Risk-Based analysis
In the Appendix B: Technical Specifications, climate change is layered on existing scenarios. Therefore,
the additional flood mechanisms identified in the list above will have their rainfall amount and sea levels
increased by the respective values prescribed in the Climate Change Standards.
The municipality also has the option available in the checklist of requesting a risk-based analysis. A risk-
based analysis allows for a more in-depth look at the impact of uncertain events, such as greater climate
change scenarios, or any other scenario in addition to the ones already listed. The analysis will show
what areas (i.e., land use types, infrastructure, etc.) can be flooded in various scenarios. This allows
municipalities to identify vulnerabilities and can help to define which specific uncertain scenarios should
be included.
Both the Federal Hydrologic and Hydraulic Procedures for Flood Hazard Delineation, 2019, and the
Municipal Flood Line Mapping: Planning Horizons and Considerations, 2019, advise that risk-based
analysis provides better information to support decision-making. This approach is also consistent with
the Nova Scotia’s precautionary principle to address uncertainty in the Environment Act as noted earlier.
A risk-based analysis consists of considering the effect of events that are larger than the design events
on vulnerable populations, land uses, services, communication, and infrastructure. This is especially
relevant to climate change analyses since the selection of a climate change event can be very uncertain.
This analysis consists of selecting a range of events (minimum of 3) of equal or larger magnitude to the
design event and conducting flood mapping using those. This allows for visualization of the risk that is
placed on the vulnerable areas in case actual change was underestimated. The municipality can then
make informed choices about modifying the floodplain boundary at locations identified as vulnerable,
changing land use planning policy, or implementing mitigation measures including retreat2.
This approach is entirely optional but is available in-case conditions that have not been considered in
the specifications appear. The risk-based analysis method provides a procedure to evaluate the impact
of including both those conditions in the analysis and not.
2 For example, in HRM, the uncertainty was related to which climate change scenario to include in the analysis. A
risk-based analysis was carried out and since no additional vulnerabilities were identified with a more conservative
climate change scenario, the most conservative climate change scenario was selected.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 15
CHAPTER 3 TOPOGRAPHIC AND BATHYMETRIC DATA
REQUIREMENTS
The necessary topographic data to be collected includes meteorological, topographic, bathymetric,
hydrologic, hydraulic, and calibration data. It is extremely important to collect as much of the available
data as possible, at the highest quality that can be reasonably obtained. Meteorological, hydrologic,
hydraulic, and calibration data are discussed Chapter 7 (calibration data requirements); therefore, this
Chapter will focus on topographic and bathymetric data.
Minimum Data Analysis Requirements Minimum Topographic Data Requirements
Bathymetric Data
3.1 Minimum Topographic Data Requirements
Topographic data in the watershed and along the watercourse has a significant influence on the
resulting flood maps, for a range of reasons, as it directly influences the:
• precision of watershed delineation.
• quality of the cross-sections used in the model and therefore hydraulic calculations.
• precision of the water level calculation at each cross-section.
• level of detail of the flood delineation, between the cross-sections.
Since Lidar data has been collected for the entire province, it must be used as the topographic basis
from which to delineate watersheds, extract model geometry, and upon which the floodline delineation
is to be made.
If additional Lidar data is to be collected by the consultant, it will need to meet the provincial
specifications in the document “LiDAR Data Acquisition and Quality Assurance Specifications”, 2012. The
Lidar data are to be the “Bare Earth” model, meaning it should be pre-processed to have all above
ground features (trees, power poles, buildings, bridges, etc.) removed. The Lidar metadata are to be
checked to confirm that the Lidar surface matches the ground topographic survey points within
acceptable tolerance levels (typically +- 50mm on hard surfaces, and up to 300mm in forested areas).
3.2 Bathymetric Data
The collection of bathymetric survey data can be costly and requires suitable conditions in the
watercourse, however, bathymetric data allows for the accurate representation of riverine and coastal
hydraulic processes, particularly in deeper channels. Flood mapping studies in rivers with deep channels
(>1 m) should include adequate resources and schedule to complete a suitable bathymetric survey. In
many instances the cost for bathymetric survey can be a significant proportion of the overall project
cost.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 16
3.2.1 Watercourses
Bathymetric data in the watercourse is a key requirement where the Lidar data are not sufficiently
representative of the watercourse (typically when the water depth is more than 1m). Judgement will
have to be used by the consultant to decide whether additional bathymetric data are needed to model
the watercourse with sufficient accuracy.
If the topographic surface has been mapped when the flows are low in comparison to the flood events,
the relative error of not including the flow area of this low flow will be small. For example, if the depth
of water under the Lidar surface represents a small fraction of the full water depth of the channel during
one of the mapped events, the Lidar surface may be considered representative of the channel geometry
for modelling purposes, provided that adequate roughness of the channel surface is applied.
If bathymetric data are to be collected, there are several options available, which are dependant on the
specific characteristics of the watercourse.
Manual topographic survey Smaller watercourses that are safe to traverse on foot
Single beam echosounder Where the watercourse is regular, wide, and deep enough to allow
the boat to follow clearly identified cross-sections
Multibeam sonar Where the watercourse has uneven bathymetry, is sufficiently
deep and may have high suspended solids
Topo-bathymetric Lidar Where the watercourse is large, and the water is relatively clear.
Can also apply to shallow coastal areas.
Bathymetric Lidar For deeper areas where the watercourse / coastal area is large,
and the water is relatively clear.
Shallower watercourses should be done with a manual topographic survey of cross-sections in the
watercourse or using a GPS vertical satellite reference or tied to a local topographic reference
monument. Where it is not safe to do so by hand, technology can be used with boats or floating
instruments, or from the top of a hydraulic structure, to collect the data. At a minimum, the number of
survey points along the underwater portion of the cross-section should be:
TABLE 3.2
• For watercourses less than 2m in width: 5 surveyed points
• For watercourses between 2m and 20m in width: 10 surveyed points
• For watercourses more than 20m in width: 20 surveyed points
Efforts should be made to capture the lowest point (thalweg) of the watercourse, since it impacts the
cross-sectional area of flow, and hence the capacity of the watercourse. If there is an as-built drawing of
a hydraulic structure which shows the watercourse cross-section, this can be used instead of a survey.
Topo-bathymetric Lidar (that can penetrate the water surface and provide a continuous surface from
the land to the watercourse bathymetric surface) may be used where the water is sufficiently clear to
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 17
allow the light beam to reach the bottom surface of the watercourse. If using this technology, regular
manual topographical measurements are needed to check the quality of the data in all representative
areas.
Where the depth of water requires surveying to be conducted, cross-sections are to be measured at
representative sections of the watercourse, including at every bend, narrower area, wider area,
constriction and expansion, such that the geometry formed by connecting the cross-sections is
hydraulically representative of the watercourse. If the depth of water in the Lidar surface is sufficiently
low, cross-sections can be extracted directly from the Lidar data. Survey requirements around hydraulic
structures are given in the following section.
3.2.2 Lakes
Lakes can be assumed to be a flat surface during the flood mapping assessment, however, where Lidar
data are available, stage-storage relationships should be estimated in the flood plain areas. It is
expected that LiDAR will be available in many instances and this should be reflected in the assessment of
flooding in lakes.
Lake bathymetry data are available for many lakes in the province thorough the Nova Scotia Department
of Fisheries and Aquaculture (over 1,000 lakes). If data are not available and lake bathymetry has the
potential to impact peak flows, it will be necessary to conduct a bathymetric survey by boat to produce
a lake bottom surface that is sufficiently representative of the actual bottom surface to model the
impact.
3.3 Strategy for Minimal Data Availability
If conditions are such that it is not possible, due to access, safety, or budget constraints, to obtain the
data to the level of detail required, discussions will need to be held with the municipality to identify
where a reduction in data collection is acceptable. The consultant is to advise the municipality where a
data reduction can result in a loss of quality, and how much quality will be lost in the resulting flood
map. If the areas in question are deemed of significant importance for flood mapping by the
municipality, the flood mapping work may need to be delayed until the data are collected, or a more
conservative approach needs to be used. For example, lakes can be modelled as a flat surface, which will
generate higher flows and higher (i.e., more conservative) downstream water levels. If this is the case, it
will need to be very clearly documented by the consultant, so that the study and floodlines can be
updated when the missing data becomes available.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 18
CHAPTER 4 DETERMINE HYDRAULIC STRUCTURE
REQUIREMENTS
Hydraulic structures are often the features that cause the greatest local changes in water levels along
the watercourse. It is therefore very important to obtain all the necessary details of any structure that
has the potential to impact water levels. It is important to note that not only do the hydraulic opening,
inlet, and outlet characteristics need to be clearly represented, but the overflow features need to be
noted in detail as well. Extreme flow paths and extents can be quite different from average flows, where
roadway overtopping, separation of flow paths, or failure of structures are quite common during
extreme events. It is therefore important to keep this in mind when collecting information related to
hydraulic structures.
Survey requirements:
• The hydraulic opening geometry is to be measured in detail, such that the width, height, and total
area of opening is accurately represented in the model. If the bottom of the structure is the natural
channel, the number of points to measure is the same as for the cross-sections (See Table 3.2).
• Depending on the hydraulic structure, the roadway or overflow surface needs to be accurately
measured. For a roadway surface, Lidar data will be sufficient to extract the roadway top elevation
along a distance that exceeds the maximum potential flood width of any scenario modelled. Other
structures (e.g., low head dams, spillways, weirs, etc.) need to have their surface surveyed on the
site to ensure the details of the overflow geometry are very clearly defined. The accuracy of those
measurements is to follow the same requirements as the topographic survey requirements for
ground surveyed cross-sections.
If Record Drawings of structures are available, these may be used instead of a site survey to collect the
necessary information. However, it is recommended that site visits be conducted to confirm that the
drawings match current conditions, and that they be documented in the modelling report. Design
Drawings or Issued for Construction Drawings will not be considered acceptable, as the actual built
structure may differ from the original design.
4.1 Inlet and Outlet Characteristics
Inlet and outlet characteristics can greatly impact the hydraulic efficiency of the structures. For example,
a culvert with a projecting inlet will have a notable reduction in capacity compared to a tapered inlet,
even if the culvert diameters are the same.
The specific inlet and outlet characteristics need to be obtained for each hydraulic structure and should
be collected during the site survey. If possible, the ground survey should measure inlet characteristics
(e.g., length of inlet projection, angle of headwalls, radius of curvature of taper, etc.), to ensure the
accuracy of the information.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 19
In addition, the inlet approach and outlet expansion areas need to be measured. Site photographs are
needed on both sides of the structure, facing both from and towards the structure. This is very
important to evaluate contraction and expansion losses for each structure. Suitable sources for inlet and
outlet loss coefficients include the FHWA-HDS05 Hydraulic Design of Highway Culverts, 2005 and FHWA-
HDS07: Hydraulic Design of Safe Bridges, 2012.
4.2 Location of Cross-Sections Around Structure
It is important to locate upstream and downstream cross-sections in a specific manner to allow the valid
calculation of expansion and contraction mechanisms to adequately evaluate energy losses.
Four cross-section locations are needed around the structure. The following sketch is extracted from the
HEC-RAS manual and denotes the locations of the four sections in a sketch for a bridge or culvert. This is
applicable to any hydraulic structure that creates contraction and expansion of the flow.
Figure 4.2 - Cross Section Locations at a Bridge or Culvert (Table 5.1 from the HEC-RAS Hydraulic
Reference Manual)3
Cross section 1 is to be located sufficiently downstream from the structure so that the flow is not
affected by the structure, and any local turbulence has dissipated. The field visit should attempt to
locate the best location for this cross-section location. A rough first estimate is to use a distance from
the structure that is equal to twice its average obstruction length (average of the distance A-B and C-D).
Additional guidance is found in the HEC-RAS Hydraulic Reference Manual, 2016 that will consider
degrees of constriction, different slopes, and different ratios of the overbank roughness to main
3 https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-ras/documentation/HEC-
RAS%205.0%20Reference%20Manual.pdf
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 20
channel, to identify an expansion ratio to multiply the obstruction length with to set the location of
Cross-Section 1.
Cross-Section 2 is located a short distance downstream from the Bridge or Culvert. It is not located
immediately downstream of the structure, but rather just after the outlet loss of the structure. It is
meant to capture the section after the outlet loss of the structure but before the channel expansion.
Cross-Section 3, similarly, should be placed just before the structure’s contraction losses, but at the end
of the channel contraction.
Cross-Section 4 should be located just upstream of the channel contraction losses. A rough estimate can
be made using a distance equal to the average obstruction length (average of the distance A-B and C-D).
Additional guidance is found in the HEC-RAS Hydraulic Reference Manual, 2008.
The cross-sections do not necessarily need to be surveyed on foot or by boat. If the water was
sufficiently shallow during the Lidar survey, the cross-sections can be directly extracted from there.
4.3 Strategy for Minimal Data Availability
If conditions are such that it is not possible, due to access, safety, or budget constraints, to obtain the
data to the level of detail required, discussions will need to be held with the municipality to identify
where a reduction in data collection is acceptable, but in general, hydraulic structures are essential
factors that influence water levels in a drainage system. If the areas in question are deemed of
significant importance for flood mapping by the municipality, it may be necessary to omit those specific
areas from the project scope until such time that the issues can be overcome.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 21
CHAPTER 5 CONSIDERATION OF COLLECTION SYSTEM
INTERACTIONS WITH WATERCOURSE
When water levels in a watercourse are high, any associated stormwater drainage system would not be
able to drain out to the river or the coast. This will cause the drainage system to back up, producing
localised flooding outside of the main watercourse floodplain. Similarly, combined sewer overflows into
a watercourse with high water levels can prevent drainage of the wastewater and cause upstream
flooding of wastewater within the serviced areas.
Interactions between a watercourse and stormwater/sanitary systems are often the subject of much
debate. As a standard, the stormwater and sanitary systems are not included in flood mapping projects.
The assessment of localised flooding occurring within the stormwater and combined system networks is
the focus of Stormwater and Sanitary Master Plans or Stormwater and Sanitary Management Plans.
Stormwater Management Plans are typically best suited to occur after a flood mapping study has been
completed. A flood study will provide the downstream water level boundary (in the watercourse) to the
stormwater drainage system. The scope of a Stormwater Management Plan will typically include the
drainage system of urbanized areas, including ditches, driveway culverts, catch basins, manholes and
piped systems, which must be surveyed manually. Such systems can be quite sophisticated, such as
combined stormwater/wastewater systems with combined sewer overflow chambers, and pumping
stations. The focus of Stormwater Management Plans is the study of potential existing or future
localized flooding, and the identification of mitigation and upgrade measures to service future
development safely and cost effectively. It is important in such studies to include the downstream water
levels, since there can often exist backwater effects that allow the watercourse or tide to flow back up
through the system and cause flooding, or reduce the drainage capacity. The general approach to model
set up and calibration is similar to a flood mapping study, where a representative geometrical
description of the ground features is created within a model, and boundary conditions (meteorological
and downstream water levels) are set in a representative manner. Calibration against measured
extreme flood events also forms the basis for establishing the ability of the model to represent the
impact of design storm events.
It is therefore to be assumed that the stormwater and sanitary collection system (and potential
associated studies on water quality impacts) is not to be included in the Flood Mapping scope, unless
specifically requested by the municipality.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 22
CHAPTER 6 HYDROLOGIC AND HYDRAULIC MODELLING
REQUIREMENTS
The methods used for flood analysis need to be capable of resolving the mechanisms that influence
flooding risks. Hydrologic and hydraulic considerations are presented here, including various approaches
for the assessment, as well as modelling requirements.
Hydrologic and Hydraulic
Modelling Requirements
Hydrology Hydraulic Modelling
Regional Flood Frequency Approved Modelling Platforms
Single Station Flood Frequency
Analysis
Modelling Dykes or Berms
Hydrologic Modelling Modelling Blockages at
Structures
Ice Jam Assessment
6.1 Hydrology
A hydrologic analysis allows the estimation of runoff flows from a watershed into a watercourse. It is not
intended to produce water levels, only flows. A hydrologic analysis can be conducted at a single point, or
at many points. The Regional Flood Frequency and Single Station Flood Frequency analyses are typically
conducted for one point, while hydrologic modelling is conducted to build on available data using
localized hydrologic characteristics to infer flows at many locations within the watershed. Typical
approaches include using the single point calculation as an upstream boundary to a short (less than 20
km) hydraulic model, or as calibration data to a hydrologic model. The Rational Method or Modified
Rational Method are not acceptable approaches as they are developed for very small areas only (up to
20 ha). Where applicable, a flood frequency analysis (especially if based on a single station within the
study area watershed) can produce the most representative flow estimates. However, such conditions
seldom occur and alternative approaches, such as modelling, typically need to be used.
6.1.1 Velocity-area Discharge Measurement Collection
Where velocity-area discharge measurements are required the Water Survey of Canada (WSC)
methodology should be used. If the specific circumstances require another methodology this should be
rationalized and clearly articulated in the reporting.
Spacing of the verticals
• Collect at least 20 observation verticals (stations) in any cross section (25‐30 verticals is ideal).
• Each station should account for about 5% of the total flow and no station must account for
more than 10% of the total discharge.
• Where depths and velocities are greater, verticals are closer together. Where depths and
velocities are smaller, the distance between verticals increases.
• Keep the distance between verticals greater than 5 cm. It may not be possible to obtain 20
verticals and 5% of flow per vertical on narrow streams. Adjust the total number of verticals
according to this minimum criterion for distance.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 23
Depth of observation
• If the depth of vertical is less than 0.75 m, observations are made at a 0.6 depth.
• If the depth is equal to or greater than 0.75 m, the two‐ point method with observations at
0.2 and 0.8 depth is used to obtain the mean velocity.
• If a non‐standard velocity profile is suspected with the two‐point method, a third observation
is taken at 0.6 of the depth and the three‐point method is then applied.
Time of exposure
• Under normal measurement conditions, each point velocity must be sampled for a minimum
of 40 seconds.
• If velocities at a location appear highly variable, a longer sampling time should be used.
Ensure the probe remains stable during the sampling time.
• Under extreme conditions, such as rapidly changing stage, a shorter sample time may be used
to lessen the overall measurement time. However, it would be advisable to conduct one or
more additional measurements consecutively under such conditions.
Flow angle
• Position the probe perpendicular to the tag line while holding the wading rod vertically.
Interference from technologist
• The technologist should stand in a position that least affects the velocity of water in the
sampling volume.
• Hold the wading rod firmly and close to the tagline.
• Stand downstream of tagline, and as far from the probe as possible (this may require standing
to the side of the wading rod).
• For very small streams or near shore measurements, avoid standing in the water if feet and
legs would occupy a considerable percentage of the cross‐section or station.
6.1.2 Velocity-area Discharge Measurement Collection
Where stage-discharge curves are required the Water Survey of Canada (WSC) methodology should be
used. If the specific circumstances require another methodology this should be rationalized and clearly
articulated in the reporting. The stage-discharge curve development must be as follows4:
• Stage-discharge measurements must be collected over the entire duration of the monitoring
period (minimum 3 months).
• Consultant must monitor water level reading and weather forecast continuously and be ready to
take a field measurement during high flow events.
• The stage-discharge curve should include a minimum of 10 stage-discharge measurements
spanning the range of flows observed over the monitoring period.
• The highest and lowest discharge measurements should be within 15% of the maximum and
minimum discharges captured during the monitoring period.
4 There may be difficulty achieving a minimum of 10 measurements within 15% of min-max discharge at scale over
the monitoring season. On a site specific determination the consultant can propose a reduced requirement as long
as it does not go below a minimum of 6 measurements and 25% of the maximum and minimum discharges
captured during the monitoring period.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 24
6.1.3 Flood Frequency Analysis
In a potentially changing environment, which may be caused by land-use changes or climate change, the
suitability of hydrometric data may be uncertain. The Federal Hydrologic and Hydraulic Procedures for
Flood Hazard Delineation state in Section 6.3.1 (Key Assumptions of Flood Frequency Analysis) “Use of
FFA [Flood Frequency Analysis] assumes that the record of observed floods can be treated as
independent random variables drawn from a homogeneous and representative population that remains
unchanged over time. A variety of statistical tests exist to help qualified professionals determine how
well a peak flow record meets each of these pre-requisite assumptions for FFA”. Therefore, it is
imperative to assess hydrometric data for change-points (e.g., deforestation), serial correlation (e.g.,
each subsequent observation is dependent on the one that preceded it), and trend (e.g., land-use
change or climate change). If data are found to be homogeneous, constant over time, and display no
serial correlational, standard flood frequency analysis techniques can be applied. Otherwise,
determining peak flood magnitudes (i.e., quantiles) is more complex. For example, if over time, an
increasing temporal trend is identified in peak streamflow data, a standard statistical frequency analysis
will underestimate the true flood quantiles.
The Federal Hydrologic and Hydraulic Procedures for Flood Hazard Delineation state in Section 6.3.2
(Record Length) that FFA can be undertaken on periods of record greater than 10 years, however, it was
cautioned that this is likely to result in unreliable results. A common rule is to avoid extrapolating
annual exceedance probabilities (AEP) to more than double the length of available record. For example,
one would need 50 years of data, to estimate the 1% AEP event. This number of station years is still
considered low given that, in a stationary environment, one would expect to see one 2% AEP event in 50
years of data and an event greater than that is unlikely. Certain jurisdictions have required less data,
but these are mostly generalized regional studies. It is therefore recommended that the period of
record be extended through the suggested methodologies provided in the Federal Guidelines or a
regional FFA be carried out as a comparative basis for the FFA on limited periods of record.
The Federal Guidelines do not recommend data transfer from other gauged locations to ascertain peak
quantile estimates. However due to limited coverage, data transfer may be required in instances of
limited data availability. Ideally, a strong correlation exists between the data of the candidate site and
the study site, which can be assessed through overlapping periods of record. If data exhibit statistically
significant correlation, then the watersheds are likely to be hydrologically similar. It is therefore
recommended, in agreeance with the Federal Guidelines, that regional FFA be used for peak quantile
estimate in ungauged sites. It is recognized that regionalization may be somewhat more challenging in
Nova Scotia, but even short periods of record can be included in a regional FFA analysis. Also, numerous
hydrometric stations in the Province have long and accurate periods of record (some have over a
hundred station years of data) and may facilitate the creation of homogenous regions.
The Canada-Nova Scotia Flood Damage Reduction Program published a document in 1980 that outlines
a specific process for Nova Scotia, however, this approach can only be used in the following instances:
Watersheds with drainage areas within the range of those of the 33 stations used in developing
the equations (26.9 km2 to 1450 km2).
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 25
Not in areas of mainland Nova Scotia where few hydrometric stations used in their development
are located (western Cumberland and Colchester counties, interior portions of Shelburne,
Yarmouth and Digby counties, and significant portions of Annapolis and Hants counties)
Not in the Cape Breton Island watersheds.
If regional flood frequency analysis is deemed inappropriate for the study area, it is suggested that a
prescriptive methodology be developed for data transfer between stations that does not rely on a
subjective assessment of catchment similarity.
6.1.3.1 SINGLE STATION APPROACH
This can be applied where existing flow gauging stations are located either in the target watershed, or in a
watershed with similar hydrologic characteristics. This approach is not suitable if the study area watershed
is less than 20 km² (since there are so few of them), unless the existing local gauging station also has a
drainage area less than 20 km², in which case the target watershed should have a drainage area within
20% of the gauging station drainage area. If no suitable gauging station exists, hydrologic modelling should
be conducted to estimate flows. In the case of a watershed with similar hydrologic characteristics, a review
of the following hydrologic characteristics must be made, and good consistency between them must be
ensured:
Period of record (should be a minimum of 20 years to produce meaningful statistics)
Watershed Drainage area
Percent of watershed area covered by lakes
Average slope of watershed
Percentage of development
Percentages of other types of land cover (Low density to High density forest, grass, wetlands,
brush, etc.)
Whether flow regulation (e.g. dams) exist within the watershed
Proximity of gauged watershed to target watershed
Geographic similarity (coastline the watersheds drains to, the mountain or hill the watersheds
initiate at, the maximum rainfall amount for the relevant duration of event - following the time
of concentration of the watershed - to be obtained from the Rainfall Frequency Atlas for
Canada, the orientation of the watershed).
It is recommended that several (3-4) gauged watershed characteristics be quantitatively compared to
the characteristics of the study area. If little similarity is found between the study area watershed and
the gauged watershed, the Single Station Flood Frequency Analysis may not be suitable. If the Regional
Flood Frequency Analysis is not applicable either, a discussion must be held with the Municipality to
document the lack of flow data. A decision may be jointly made to select a representative watershed, or
to install a new flow gauge, but the data limitations must be made very clear in the analysis report.
6.1.3.2 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Once the flow data has been collected and prorated, the peak annual instantaneous maxima need to be
organised and a statistical extremal value analysis conducted. According to the Federal Flood Mapping
Guidelines, 2019, the Generalised Extreme Value (GEV) analysis is the most suitable probability
distribution function and is to be included. Other types are also accepted, including Gumbel, Frechet,
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 26
Weibull (which are within the GEV family of distributions), Normal, Log-Normal, 3-parameter Log-
Normal, Log Pearson III, or Method of Moments. Naturally, it is necessary to include a range of statistical
tests to evaluate the suitability of the various functions to identify the most representative. Confidence
Intervals (95%) need to be included in the graphing of the selected function. Other approaches
presented in the Federal Flood Mapping Guidelines (2019) document are also acceptable.
6.1.4 Hydrologic Modelling
Hydrologic models are to be used where:
The watershed area is less than 20 km² (unless specific characteristics discussed for the single
station approach apply)
The length of the hydraulic model study area is more than 20 km (representative changes in
flows may not be well represented with a flood frequency analysis), or
The hydrologic characteristics between watersheds are too diversified to be represented by a
single gauging station. Occasionally, it may be possible to break down the study area watershed
into several components, each with their respective hydrologic calculation, but this is mostly
applicable to very large watersheds (> 1000 km2)
Additional processes were identified as important contributors to flooding in certain parts of the
watershed (e.g., snow melt, groundwater inflow).
6.1.4.1 MODELLING PLATFORMS
Acceptable hydrologic models are the following:
HEC-HMS
SWMM5
Other software may be used, but they must be open-source, non-proprietary, and be able to conduct an
event as well as long term models to the same as or more advanced level of detail than the software
listed above. Any alternative software proposed must be clearly documented, justified, and submitted
to the Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs & Housing for acceptance before it can be used5.
6.1.4.2 MINIMUM DATA INPUT REQUIREMENTS:
The rainfall input to the model, for the design events, shall follow the closest Environment Canada
climate station with Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curve data available. The distribution of the
rainfall shall follow the IDF data, meaning that the 5-minute peak intensity of the rainfall event will
match that of the IDF curve, as well as the 15-minute, 30-minute, etc., up to and including 24 hours. For
this, the A and B coefficients derived by Environment Canada in the IDF relationship (𝐼= 𝐴⋅𝑡𝐵) may be
used to assemble the rainfall distribution. For reference, Applied Hydrology (Chow, 1988 p. 446-7)
5 Rather than Identifying a robust set of requirements that detail model capabilities that would be very difficult to
check an individual model against, specific modelling software was chosen. Descriptions of model internal
workings are not standardized and not typically explicitly stated or are hidden for intellectual property reasons. US
FEMA has created a list of models that looks for third party test results and the ability to reproduce results from
other accepted models before approving new models. Any alternative software proposed should refer to software
on this list. https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-03/Model_Acceptance_Checklist_Feb_2018.pdf
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 27
includes a detailed methodology for the Alternating Block rainfall distribution method. However,
software exists using other relationships that are more accurate and as easy to implement. It will be up
to the consultant to use best professional judgement when choosing the methodology and ensure it is
clearly explained and rationalized in the report. Any software and methodology should be non-
proprietary and accessible for reviewers and future modelling.
Regardless of the method, the input data shall include delineation of the following land cover surface
type to account for the specific surface roughness, infiltration, or surface storage characteristics of each
surface type:
• Light forest
• Medium density forest
• Dense forest
• Light brush
• Heavy brush
• Grass
• Wetland
• Rocky outcrops
• Lakes
• Low density development
• Medium density development
• High density development
Delineation of soil type shall be conducted if more than one soil type is present in the watersheds. Soil
infiltration characteristics shall be obtained from the Canada Department of Agriculture soil database,
1972, which includes soil information. Soil characteristics can then be obtained using Rawls et al., 1983.
Where possible, soil infiltration calculations shall be conducted using measured soil characteristics, that
are available from the Canada Department of Agriculture soil database. The Green-Ampt formulation is
such an example6. This approach is meant to be a simple but robust method for assessing infiltration and
runoff, which is based on actual soil characteristics, and a method that is also closer to actual soil
infiltration behaviour. The use of Curve Numbers for soil infiltration calculations is not considered an
acceptable method: it is not based on Canadian soils, is overly simplified, and does not have sufficiently
specific characteristics (based on one of a total of four possible soil groups).
It is understood that there is a natural variability to soil conditions and runoff amounts within any
watershed at any given time. It is therefore expected that long term simulations will have greatly varying
runoff coefficients (the ratio of runoff volume to rainfall volume) for any given rainfall event. For
example, the runoff coefficient will be very different after a dry summer period compared to frozen
ground conditions.
For the purposes of extreme event flood modelling, it is expected that runoff coefficients will be greater
than average values. In order to ensure some consistency and a minimum acceptable level of safety with
respect to runoff calculations, the resulting runoff coefficients are to reach at a minimum the following
6 The Green-Ampt method was suggested because the data are already available for all of Canada, so additional
measurement are not necessary. Soil types are available from Agriculture and Agri-food Canada in shape files
(http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/publications/surveys/ns/index.html), and Green-Ampt parameters are found from the
following source, which is a reference in the industry. Source: Rawls, W.J. et al., (1983). J. Hyd. Engr., 109:1316.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 28
values (the maximum values would be 1, for frozen ground conditions, or higher if snowmelt is
included):
Average Land Cover Minimum Runoff Coefficient
Majority of Dense Forest / Heavy Brush 0.5
Majority of Light Forest / Light Brush 0.6
Majority of Grass 0.65
Majority of Light Development 0.7
Majority of Medium Density Development 0.8
Majority of Dense Development /
Wetlands / Lakes / Rocky outcrops 0.9
The runoff coefficients need to be calculated for each watershed and need to meet the above criteria. If
they do not, adjustments to the model (infiltration characteristics for example) need to be made to
bring the calculated runoff coefficient to the required values.
The hydrologic model extents need to cover the entire tributary area and be broken down into sub-
watersheds (by similarity of hydrologic characteristics) as necessary to represent the gradually changing
flows along the watercourse.
6.2 Hydraulic Modelling
Hydraulic modelling is the assessment of water levels in a hydraulic conveyance system that are reached
when flows are entered into this system. Water levels will be dependent on factors such as channel
shape, slope, roughness, bends, constructions, storage, structures, etc. Water level calculations need to
take into consideration the various mechanisms that affect water levels. Coastal modelling naturally
requires at least a 2D modelling platform; a steady state model for example, will not adequately assess
water levels in an area that is tidal. However, storage areas or dendritic networks with no specific
constriction could be suitably assessed with a one-dimensional steady-state model. The following
criteria is therefore to be used for model selection, combined with professional judgement:
One Dimensional Steady State Models:
• Only for dendritic networks with little storage (such as lakes), few constrictions, and no hydraulic
structures.
One Dimensional Unsteady Flow (hydrodynamic) Models:
• Suitable where clearly defined channels follow clear pathways.
• Tidal effects, storage, constrictions, or hydraulic structures are present.
• Can include multiple paths, but those must be clearly defined and constant (such as an overflow into
a ditch system or pond).
Two Dimensional Hydrodynamic Models:
• Needed where there are unclear flow paths that can vary depending on the flows.
• Potential of overflows into large floodplain areas with multiple pathways.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 29
• Localized effects of structures or bends, creating different water levels along the watercourse cross-
section, are needed for the study.
Three-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Models:
• Needed where vertical effects impact water levels, such as local structure effects such as uneven
weirs, or around scour holes in fast flows.
• Where the bed level changes during the event, and subsequently alters water levels, the model can
include erosion and sedimentation to update the riverbed shape during the simulation. This is
needed where such simulations identify safety risks, or significant cost savings.
• The cost of using this type of model and its greater data requirements needs to be balanced with the
accuracy needed for the area being studied.
6.2.1 Approved Modelling Platforms
The acceptable hydraulic models in each of the above categories are listed below:
River Modelling - One Dimensional Steady State Models:
• HEC-RAS
• SWMM5
• MIKE-11 by DHI
River Modelling - One Dimensional Unsteady Flow (hydrodynamic) Models:
• HEC-RAS (ver. 4.0 and up)
• SWMM5
• MIKE-11 by DHI
River Modelling - Two Dimensional Hydrodynamic Models:
• HEC-RAS (ver. 5.0 and up)
• PCSWMM2D (Quasi-2D flow)
• Delft3D by Deltares
• MIKE Flood by DHI
• Telemac2D
Coastal Modelling - Two Dimensional Hydrodynamic Models:
• Delft3D by Deltares
• MIKE-21 by DHI
• Telemac2D
River and Coastal Modelling - Three-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Models:
• MIKE 3 by DHI
• Delft3D by Deltares
• Telemac3D
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 30
The reference manuals for each model should be followed carefully, as each model has a slightly
different approach to calculating water levels. For example, hydraulic structure loss coefficients in one
model may not produce the same results as in another model.
Other software may be used, but they must be open-source, non-proprietary, and be able to conduct an
event as well as long term models to the same as or more advanced level of detail than the software
listed above. Any alternative software proposed must be clearly documented, justified, and submitted
to the Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs & Housing for acceptance before it can be used7.
The following requirements apply to all models:
• Cross-sections used in the model (for One Dimensional models), or the domain extents of the model
(for Two and Three-Dimensional models) need to be sufficiently wide to include the highest
potential flood to be modelled. If this is not the case, loss of water, artificial constriction, or artificial
surcharging will occur, resulting in invalid results.
• Sufficient cross-sections need to be included to allow the generation of a representative set of water
level results (see Topographic Requirements above).
• Roughness coefficients need to follow the Chow, 1959 guidance.
• Hydraulic model extents need to include the upstream and downstream end of the development
that the study area is within, plus 5 km upstream and 5 km downstream, to ensure any potential
impact on flows or water levels are included in the model.
6.2.2 Modelling Dykes or Berms
Dykes and berms are designed to encroach on the floodplain, and as such, need to be carefully
modelled. If the hydraulic model does not have a specific dyke or berm modelling routine, the cross-
sections need to be terminated at the dyke, and a weir connection needs to be added to link the main
channel to the floodplain behind the dyke. If the dykes can be overtopped by a significant depth (greater
than 300mm), failure of the dyke needs to be considered. The hydraulic model selected therefore needs
to either have a dyke failure routine or be able to represent dyke failure using available modelling
components (make modifications at given thresholds during the simulation to the geometry of the
modelled dyke, as a representation of dyke failure).
6.2.3 Modelling Blockages at Structures
Blockages can be common in some structures, which restrict the natural cross-section of the channel,
and where a large amount of debris can be generated in the upstream watershed, typically in forested
areas. If anecdotal evidence has pointed to such an occurrence, debris jams will need to be included as a
scenario in the model and discussed in the results. For this assessment, as much information as possible
7 Rather than identifying a robust set of requirements that detail model capabilities that would be very difficult to
check an individual model against, specific modelling software was chosen. Descriptions of model internal
workings are usually not standardized or explicitly stated or are hidden for intellectual property reasons. US FEMA
has created a list of models that looks for third party test results and the ability to reproduce results from other
accepted models before approving new models. Any alternative software proposed should refer to software on
this list. https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-03/Model_Acceptance_Checklist_Feb_2018.pdf
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 31
on the types of debris, the frequency, the mechanisms of the debris jam formation, and debris jam size
and extents need to be collected. An estimate of the 5% AEP and 1% AEP debris jam will need to be
made and the model will need to include some combination of weirs, orifices, restricted cross-sections,
and hydraulic losses to represent the blockage present at the structure.
6.2.4 Ice Jam Assessment
Ice thickness measurements should be obtained from a location as close as possible to the study area
site (assemble local ice thickness data if available). If sufficient data is available, the procedure described
in the Federal Hydrologic and Hydraulic Procedures for Flood Hazard Delineation, 2019, should be
followed.
If there is insufficient data, the Environment Canada Ice Thickness Program Collection can be an
additional source of data. With this information, the US Army Corps of Engineer’s Cold Regions Research
and Engineering Laboratory’s methodology (“Method to Estimate River Ice Thickness Based on
Meteorological Data”) of extending the data using a local climate station should be followed. A
statistical analysis to obtain a 1% AEP value for ice thickness should be conducted. From there, a suitable
model should be used to evaluate the risks of ice jams forming in various locations in the watercourse.
Any available ice jam thickness or water level information during ice jams should be used to calibrate
the model.
In Nova Scotia very little exists in terms of consistent ice thickness measurement programs or ice jam
thickness measurement programs. This lack of initial conditions and calibration data makes it very
difficult to produce reliable assessments of expected ice jam thicknesses with a specific return period.
For this reason, ice jam modelling results are not typically used to generate flood maps. Rather,
longitudinal river profiles are generated, and comments are made to identify areas that are most at risk.
It will be up to the consultant to decide whether the analysis is sufficiently representative of actual risks
to generate a flood map or to generate a profile with some comments.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 32
CHAPTER 7 MODEL CALIBRATION REQUIREMENTS
Model calibration is the process of reproducing measured flows and water levels using only climate data
(and tidal water levels if needed) as input for a model run. The objective is to adjust the hydrologic and
hydraulic models to be representative of the watershed and drainage system, so that it can produce
realistic estimates of peak water levels during extreme events.
Calibration Process 1. Selection of Calibration Events
2. Calibration Data Sources
Rainfall
Coastal water levels
River flows and water
levels
3. Minimum Calibration
Standard
7.1 Calibration Process
Calibration is conducted by first identifying the most representative measured flood events, which are
typically those closest to the design events (the 5% AEP and 1% AEP events). Rainfall, flow, and when
possible, water level data are collected, and the model is run to see if the model results match the
recorded flows and water levels (including the accreting and receding limbs). If this is not the case, the
model parameters must be adjusted to allow the model to match the measured curves closely as
possible. The adjustment process, however, is the core of the calibration effort. Careful judgement,
thought, and discussions with experienced professionals and local individuals familiar with the natural
variation of the hydrologic and hydraulic characteristics are needed to judiciously adjust the parameters
within their representative range and arrive at a combination that matches the observations, while still
including a representative set of parameters.
Validation events (the confirmation of the suitable calibration of the model using a different event) are
considered standard modelling practice and is required by Section 6.5.5 of the Federal Hydrologic and
Hydraulic Procedures for Flood Hazard Delineation. However, it is also considered effective to include
the validation events within the calibration as it will result in a more representative model reflective of
additional conditions (Shamsi & Koran, 2017). Long time series gauge data may be compared to the
modelled flows to see if they are in the expected range of observed values. However, even 30 years of
data may not be sufficient to support statements that undermine the modelling results. If the methods
used are well supported, then the model results are the best estimate that can be provided, especially if
the long-term flow gauging data is used to calibrate the model.
The idea of independent testing does not apply well to those models due to the level of uncertainty,
variability of parameters, and general lack of available data. In practice, using everything that is available
to support the model calibration is typically the best use of the data. Regardless of methodology, a
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 33
discussion on the main events available for calibration is required and the rationale for selecting specific
events must be explained.
7.2 Selection of Calibration Events
Model calibration is often considered to be the most important part of any modelling effort. It is the
main source of evidence that the model is representative of the conditions during the calibration events,
and by inference, of the design events. It is very important that the calibration events attempt to be
representative of the conditions of the 5% AEP and 1% AEP events. Those may be created by a
combination of various mechanisms, such as tidal events, winter events, or operational events.
Therefore, calibrations events must attempt to include the relevant mechanisms at play that combine to
create the highest water levels.
7.3 Calibration Data Sources
7.3.1 Rainfall
The closest and most reliable climate information must be sought for rainfall to be used in calibration.
This is typically the Environment Canada climate stations, although if more than one type of gauge is
available, the data must be compared to identify the most representative set, since some gauges are
covered during the winter. Some rainfall gauged data may need to be quality controlled. One example is
tipping bucket rain gauges which can underestimate precipitation intensity during extreme storms.
Available data may be supplemented by private rain gauge data if gathered closer to the study area
watersheds, have similar annual averages, and reliability can be demonstrated (set up characteristics
meet similar standards to the Environment Canada stations). If no locally reliable data are available, or if
the watershed areas are very large, it may be necessary to obtain radar-rainfall data from Environment
Canada over a large area, calibrate it on available rain gauges, and then calculate the specific rainfall for
the individual watersheds of the study area. Relevant climate information will include not only rainfall,
but also maximum and minimum temperature8, snow on the ground, wind speed and solar radiation,
which all affect the type of event that occurred.
7.3.2 Coastal water levels
If the study area is affected by the tide, the most reliable tidal information must be obtained. The tide
prediction model WebTide is available from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, which could be
used in areas with insufficient observations. DFO also publishes tidal heights for select sites in the
annual publication “Canadian Tide and Current Tables”. The heights were derived from a network of
historical tide gauge stations, however some of them recorded for no longer than one month which
does not allow the development of storm surge estimates. The historical time-series observations are
available online. It is recommended to examine the original record, check for potential adjustments in
vertical datum, and compare with adjacent sites. Long-term observations for deriving reliable storm
8 The min/max daily temperature data is readily available from any climate station under “daily data”
from ECCC. The value of this information is primarily to identify if snow fall or snowmelt was involved in
the event, which would result in very different mechanisms for generating runoff than simply looking at
total precipitation.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 34
surge statistics along NS coastal waters are only available for the 4 permanent tide gauges at Halifax,
Yarmouth, North Sydney, and Charlottetown. For any other site, estimates should be derived from
modelling, such as past and current research projects by Environment Canada9 (James, T.S., Henton,
J.A.,Robin C., & Craymer, M. 2021) and Richards and Daigle (2011).
Fig. 1 DFO Tide Stations
7.3.3 River flows and water levels
In addition to this, measured river flow and water level data need to be identified, against which to
calibrate the model. This is the data that the model will need to be able to simulate in a representative
manner. This should include as many of the following sources as possible:
• Environment Canada gauged flows and if possible, measured water levels.
• Prorated data from a representative nearby gauged watershed, if the above is not available.
• Measured flows and/or water levels using private instruments. In this case, the quality of the set up
needs to be carefully documented and needs to adhere to standards close to the Environment
Canada standards.
• Water level data in reservoirs such as dam or water supply storage reservoirs, where water levels
are recorded daily.
• Anecdotal information from area residents on peak water levels during given events. This will ideally
include photos or identify high water marks that can be surveyed.
• Satellite data can sometimes capture peak water level events. In such cases, care must be taken
since the photos will likely not represent the peak water levels at all points in the watercourse at
one point in time.
• News articles.
• Flood databases from the local EMO or provincial databases.
7.4 Minimum Calibration Standard
It is extremely important to collect as much calibration data as possible since it will directly reflect on
the quality of the resulting model. As a minimum, at least one reliable source of data for flows must be
used (Environment Canada) and several locations with water levels must be available, to allow the
9 More research available at www.climatedata.ca
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 35
model to be representative of water levels throughout its extents. As much measured data as possible
must be used, but if the only available water level information is anecdotal, this must be carefully
recorded and documented in the report.
In addition, it is necessary that the data be sufficiently representative of the design events, i.e. at least
one (flow or water level) event must have at least an 5% AEP. Since statistics on long term data should
only be relied upon if at least 20 years of data are available, the associated return period of the peak
event with this time range will be close to the 5% AEP. Alternatively, rainfall events can be compared to
the Intensity-Duration-Frequency curves to estimate their return periods, and then the flows during
those events can be roughly inferred to be similar (since return periods of rainfall and flow events are
related).
7.5 Documenting the Calibration Results
The available data, its quality, and relation to the design events, must be carefully documented and
graphed. The model results must be compared with the calibration data both graphically and through
statistical error and correlation testing. The following error functions must be calculated and tabulated:
- Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE)
- Coefficient of determination (R²)
- Simple least squares (LSE)
- Root mean square error (RMS E)
At a minimum, the pre-event water levels and flows, their accreting and receding limbs, as well as their
peak values must be reproduced in a representative manner.
7.6 Sensitivity Analysis
When the calibration is deemed satisfactory, a sensitivity analysis must be conducted by varying the
parameters that influence flows and water levels within their realistic ranges and tabulating or graphing
their influence on peak water levels. This information will be very helpful for the Municipality to
understand the main factors that influence peak water levels and allow initial insights into potential
flood mitigation approaches. A discussion of the results of the sensitivity analysis shall be included in the
report, to relate the behaviour of the watershed and hydraulic system under varying input conditions.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 36
CHAPTER 8 STANDARDIZED MAPPING VISUALS
Maps are the main deliverable of the analysis described above. They need to be as clear and easy to
interpret and understand as possible. With this goal in mind, the following criteria are set for production
and delivery of mapping information. Included within the maps to be produced is hazard mapping. This
is considered a valuable tool to protect public safety. It is a measure of hazard (in this case, depth of
water multiplied by the velocity) and can be categorized into 3 different classes:
Table 10.1 Hazard classification according to depth and velocity
Class Values in
Depth (m) x Velocity (m/s)
Level of danger
Class 1 0.5 to 1.5 Danger to some
Class 2 1.5 to 2.5 Danger to most
Class 3 Above 2.5 Danger to all
The maps are provided to support the goal of protecting public safety. The maps will provide a clear
visual tool for the Municipality to use as a guide for protection of public safety.
Criteria for production and delivery of mapping information:
• The mapping products need to be made available in both PDF and GIS formats (details for GIS data
are provided in the next Chapter), so that they can be easily printed and shared, and the
visualization of the information can be customized as needed by the Client.
• The colour schemes of the PDF maps must be consistent. As a standard, the 5% AEP event flood
lines should be depicted in blue, and the 1% AEP event depicted as red. Climate Change flood lines
should be depicted in purple and pink, respectively. A clear legend and labelling system should be
noted on the map.
• A map displaying the locations of the various cross-sections used (if using a One-Dimensional model)
or the model domain and mesh resolution (if using a Two or Three-Dimensional model) used.
• In addition to layers showing water extents, layers showing water depth at the resolution of the
Lidar data, as well as layers showing water velocity (at the resolution of the model), and layers
showing Hazard (Depth x Velocity) must be produced to help with efforts to protect public safety.
• PDF maps are to be produced to show, for the entire study area extents:
- the 5% AEP and 1% AEP events,
- for existing climate and future climate conditions (2050 and 2100),
- for flood extents and hazard
NOTE: More detailed mapping can be produced by the Consultant if requested by the Municipality.
The Municipality should also be able to make maps as needed using the GIS data they are provided
upon completion of the project.
• The main roadways should be labelled to help the public understand the maps better.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 37
• On the Flood Hazard maps, the main public safety infrastructure (main roads, ambulance centre,
hospital, power corridors, treatment plants, etc.) should be labeled, as well as the most vulnerable
areas (schools, senior homes, community buildings, etc.).
• The background of the maps should show an orthophoto to visualize information on the
topography, land cover and land uses.
Final validation of flood extents:
Once the maps with flood extents have been produced, a final walkthrough of the study area should be
made with the municipality to ensure there are no anomalies in the estimated flood extents. This step is
required in areas of high risk and areas that are currently developed or are designated for future
development in municipal planning documents.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 38
CHAPTER 9 REPORTING / REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION
9.1 Reporting deliverables
The maps are to be accompanied by a report. This report should include, at a minimum:
• Background of the study, purpose of the investigation and objectives.
• Hydrologic and hydraulic setting.
• Previous history of flooding (that is known).
• Data availability, and for each set available quality and span. Data gaps and QA/QC to be
documented.
• Survey summary maps.
• Cross-section surveys.
• Hydrologic assessment approach, with supporting rationale.
• Details of hydrologic assessment.
• Hydrologic assessment results, calibration results if modelling was undertaken.
• Hydraulic assessment approach, with supporting rationale.
• Details of hydraulic assessment.
• Hydraulic assessment results, calibration results, sensitivity testing and associated discussion.
• Calibrated model parameters to support review by the municipality or their client engineer.
• A table listing the structures that either surcharge or are overtopped, noting the peak flow to each
structure and the overtopped flow, for each of the four flood events.
• Discussion on the estimated level of quality of the study, and the main limitations/sources of
uncertainty (these should be explained based on availability and quality of data, assessment
approach, modelling challenges, etc.).
• Recommendations for further efforts to improve the next flood mapping study, including potential
additional data collection.
9.2 Mapping Deliverables
In addition to the report, a GIS Geodatabase including all vector and raster data in a format that is
retrievable with open-source software is required. The geodatabase should allow for mapping layouts
and data links to be conserved. All maps (e.g. extents, velocity, depth, and hazard) should be delivered
as both vector lines or polygons (as applicable) and in GIS raster file format, to the municipality and to
the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Data must follow the Nova Scotia Geographic
Metadata Standard (2021).
The consultant should also work with stakeholders and rightsholders, including the Province, to identify
locations that are of particular concern. These locations should be highlighted and discussed in the
report. PDF maps of the locations should be included showing at minimum the flood extents for 1% and
5% AEP Current Climate and 1% and 5% AEP Future Climate at 2100.
Nova Scotia Municipal Flood Line Mapping Appendix B: Technical Specifications 39
The GIS maps shall include the following types with corresponding layers:
Map Type Layer Name assigned to layer
Flood Extents
1% AEP Current Climate Floodline_1_AEP_Existing
5% AEP Current Climate Floodline_5_AEP_Existing
1% AEP Future Climate Floodline_1_AEP_CC
5% AEP Future Climate Floodline_5_AEP_CC
Depth Maps
1% AEP Current Climate Depth_1_AEP_Existing
5% AEP Current Climate Depth_5_AEP_Existing
1% AEP Future Climate Depth_1_AEP_CC
5% AEP Future Climate Depth_5_AEP_CC
Velocity Maps
1% AEP Current Climate Velocity_1_AEP_Existing
5% AEP Current Climate Velocity_5_AEP_Existing
1% AEP Future Climate Velocity_1_AEP_CC
5% AEP Future Climate Velocity_5_AEP_CC
Hazard Maps
1% AEP Current Climate Hazard_1_AEP_Existing
5% AEP Current Climate Hazard_5_AEP_Existing
1% AEP Future Climate Hazard_1_AEP_CC
5% AEP Future Climate Hazard_5_AEP_CC
Model files for the requested scenarios should be included in the deliverables, with the necessary data
to allow the user to run the models for the various scenarios investigated with the GIS data files. The
municipality may also request the preparation of other forms of data presentation, such as more
focused maps at specific scales with specific information (e.g., property boundaries), but also 3D
renderings or animations of specific flood scenarios showing the water levels rising, following the model
output.
Department of Municipal Affairs Appendices
References
Alberta Transportation. (2001). Guidelines on Flood Frequency Analysis. Alberta Transportation, Civil
Projects Branch. Edmonton, AB. 74pp.
APEGBC. (2017). Flood Mapping in BC. APEGBC Professional Practice Guidelines. Vol, 1.0. Available
online at: https://www.egbc.ca/getmedia/8748e1cf-3a80-458d-8f73-
94d6460f310f/APEGBCGuidelines-for-Flood-Mapping-in-BC.pdf.aspx. pp 4.
Bernier, N.B., Thompson, K. (2006). Predicting the Frequency of Storm Surges and Extreme Sea
Levels in the Northwest Atlantic. Journal of Geophysical Research., Vol. 111, C100009,
doi:10.1029/2005JC003168.
Bostwick, E. (2000). Development of Updated Regional Flood Frequency Equations for Mainland
Nova Scotia. Dal Tech, Dalhousie University.
Canada Department of Agriculture. (1972). Soils of Nova Scotia. Soil Research Institute, Research
Branch, Cartography Section, Ottawa.
Chow, V.T. (1959). Open Channel Hydraulics. McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Clark, K., Tusz, C., Manuel, P., Rapaport, E. (2019). Municipal Flood Line Mapping: Planning Horizons
and Considerations, Final Report. School of Planning, Dalhousie University.
Daigle, R., Richards, W. (2011). Scenarios and Guidance for Adaptation to Climate Change and Sea
Level Rise - NS and PEI Municipalities. Prepared for NS Department of Environment, Atlantic
Canada Adaptation Solutions Association.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). (2017). Tides and Water Levels Data Archive.
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