On Wednesday November 20, representatives of the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges invited the local media to a technical briefing on flood zones. Reeve Patrick Bousez and General Manager Alexandre Lambert explained the reasons why the regional body is asking the government for modifications to ensure a more resilient approach.

"The dossier is very important to us, as our region was heavily affected by the floods of 2017 and 2019. They didn't last just three days, but rather five, six and even seven weeks in some areas. Personally, I was on the ground during these periods and witnessed the distress of the victims. It's only natural. Our home is our life's investment, and it's justified to feel stress and worry during a situation like those experienced in 2017 and 2019. We understand the questions people have about this," said Mr. Bousez at the outset, before handing over to Mr. Lambert.

While recognizing the need for modernized and strengthened regulations to prevent risks in a changing climate, the MRC is asking the government to make changes to the proposed regulations to leave room for adaptation, risk mitigation, the search for resilience in existing homes and buildings, and the implementation of risk management plans.

Both speakers expressed their conviction that climate change, with its all-season impacts on the hydrological regime of watercourses, calls for action.

The MRC is therefore ready to embark on an ambitious adaptation process aimed first and foremost at preventing the construction of buildings or infrastructures in at-risk zones, and above all at planning consequent measures to reduce the vulnerability and exposure of the existing built environment.

Nevertheless, the MRC considers that the draft regulations proposed by the government, in their current form, do not take into account an integrated approach to risk management and resilient land development.

Considering the importance of risk zones for the territory of the MRC, and in order to enable the population and municipalities to develop the built environment towards greater resilience, the MRC is asking the Quebec government, among other things, to : 

- Give all MRCs the power to draw up regional risk management plans with an integrated, concerted, equitable approach that benefits stakeholders and can be recognized by competent professionals;

- Prevent excessive and arbitrary stacking of precautionary principles and rules in the determination of flood zones;

- Explicitly base proposed regulations on objective (quantified) risk assessment, particularly for direct damage to buildings at risk.

Adopting a more resilient approach

Over the past few months, the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges has received a clear mandate from the Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l'Habitation (MAMH) to produce the hydrographic, hydrological and terrain models required by the government to produce maps for municipalities outside the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM). Specifically, the exercise concerns the Municipality of Pointe-Fortune and the City of Rigaud.

In effect, this means that the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges, as technical agent, is providing unofficial, hypothetical mapping to the MRC's municipalities bordering the Ottawa River, to enable them to assess the potential impact of the normative framework for water environments on their territory.

To design these models, the MRC relied on data provided by the CMM. “ The mapping produced is unofficial and will be subject to approval by the Ministry.It is hypothetical and based on a preliminary interpretation, developed and provided by the CMM of the new government methodological orientations, introduced in the draft regulation. These interpretations neither commit nor represent the position of the MRCs. It is important to remember that these unofficial maps have no regulatory or legal value, are provided for information purposes and are subject to subsequent revision.As a result of this exercise, the MRC is sharing two requests with the government to adopt a more resilient approach to this issue," said Mr. Lambert.

According to information held by the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the submitted map could be approved in the spring of 2025. In the meantime, like the CMM, the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges believes that the Ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP) must hold meetings to present its draft regulatory framework to the populations concerned, without delay.

The MRC also intends to participate in this process by offering support to affected municipalities and making available the necessary mapping and analyses. It should be remembered, however, that this mapping is based on the terms of the methodological guide proposed by the government, and that the final maps may differ.

“ We deplore the fact that the new regulations could prove complex to implement and have a major impact on existing properties in our municipalities. This is why the MRC asked the government in May 2024 to work with it and other partners to develop a “resilience certificate. This legal document would recognize the actual resilience of each residential building present in flood-prone areas and aim to maintain the insurability of flood-immune properties and support the value of our fellow citizens' investments,” they concluded.

Preliminary mapping is available on the MRC website at https://mrcvs.ca/municipalites/zones-inondables/.