Associated benefits and costs of the Canadian Flood Damage Reduction Program

Canada's Flood Damage Reduction Program (FDRP), launched in 1975, initiated a national shift away from reliance on flood control structures such as dams to the use of non-structural measures, including floodplain mapping and zoning. Previous evaluations of the FDRP have not captured the full range of benefits and costs: associated with it. This paper reports on a systematic assessment of associated benefits and costs of the FDRP in the province of Ontario (that is, benefits and costs that are not related to the programme's primary objectives.) Using a two-round policy delphi survey involving 50 panellists with pertinent expertise, a broad range of associated benefits and costs was identified, relating to four broad areas (environmental protection, land-use planning, floodplain management and 'other'). Panellists decided collectively that benefits such as improved administration of zoning in hazard areas and protection of important environmental features could be credited to the FDRP. In contrast, most of the additional costs - such as increased expenses for developers - were not considered important by the group. The paper concludes that the federal government's decision to wind down this important non-structural floodplain management initiative - based on the argument that it was a narrow, single-sector initiative - was lamentable. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.