VICTORIA -- The B.C. government says it will provide $1.2 million for flood-mitigation projects in two Vancouver Island communities.
The K'omoks First Nation will get $472,000 for a project to prevent erosion, while the village of Zeballos on the northwest coast will get $750,000 for flood hazard and debris flow mitigation.
The funding comes from the province's Community Emergency Preparedness Fund.
“This program illustrates collaboration at its best,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, in a statement Friday. “The benefit of a funding program like this one is that it directly responds to the needs communities identify as important to mitigating flood risk."
Courtenay-Comox MLA Ronna-Rae Leonard said the K'omoks project is an example of working with nature to protect the community.
“This support will help make the K’omoks community more secure and our shoreline more resilient to storms, tides and erosion,” Leonard said.
North Island MLA Michele Babchuk said the Zeballos project will protect residents and visitors from the area's natural hazards.
"One of the things that locals love most about Zeballos is its spectacular natural surroundings, but those surroundings come with natural hazards," Babchuk said. "Smart investments like these will help reduce the risks from things like slides and flooding to people in town."
