Lethbridge Climate Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan provides guidance for prioritizing resources

During the past five years, the City of Lethbridge and surrounding area in Southern Alberta have experienced flooding, extreme heat, out-of-season snowstorms, and extreme storms. City residents are increasingly aware of climate risk, especially drought. Climate change threats include public health and well-being, economic, physical (built) infrastructure, and environmental impacts.

The City of Lethbridge had previously completed multiple initiatives and plans that considered environmental sustainability and climate change, including a Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment (focussed on City assets), Municipal Development Plan, Energy Conservation Master Plan, Lethbridge City Council Action Plan, and Department Adaptation Planning.

The City sought to expand on the previously completed climate-risk assessment to consider community-wide risks and provide a holistic understanding of risks posed to Lethbridge and the greater community. As well, there was a desire to quantify the economic cost of climate change if no adaptation occurs and to gather diverse perspectives to better qualitatively understand how climate hazards will impact Lethbridge.

The Climate Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan is focussed actions the City can take to adapt, while also recognizing that external organizations and residents have a role in improving resilience.

The City assembled a multi-disciplinary team, including engineering, municipal operations, and management, along with community and climate planners, who helped to ensure social equity was meaningfully incorporated. The team began by reviewing existing municipal climate and related plans to identify opportunities to align corporate initiatives with adaptation, and develop a vision and principles to guide long-term decision making.

Associated assessed the risk of a dozen climate hazards on Lethbridge’s built, natural, social, and economic systems, using best practices from PIEVC (Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee) Protocol (developed by Engineers Canada) and ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards.

We worked with a subconsultant (All One Sky Foundation) to complete a cost of inaction economic analysis which showed that Lethbridge at-large is already experiencing costs due to climate impacts. The community is projected to see an annual total cost of $77.2 million by 2025 if no adaptation occurs. Compared with 2025, projected costs are roughly three times higher by 2055 and nine times higher by 2085. Avoiding climate adaptation has a cost.

The Lethbridge Climate Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan helps the City to align their past efforts to find efficiencies, such as cost savings, opportunities, and co-benefits. Project Manager and Technical Lead, Twyla Kowalcyzk, explains, "The Climate Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan helps demonstrate that the City is taking meaningful action to ensure community safety in the face of climate risks. Public engagement also supported increased local understanding of climate hazards and how individuals can improve their own resilience."

Climate risks are complex and there are many potential impacts. Given this complexity, it is important to have clarity on the highest risks in order to focus efforts and investment. Gaining support and direction from Lethbridge City Council is key for climate adaptation, for example, building internal buy-in and securing budget/resources.

Twyla says, "Clarifying what the highest climate impacts are and what initiatives can reduce risk helps to prioritize adaptation actions and allocate resources to the most impactful efforts. This approach also helps to show alignment with existing initiatives/processes and climate."

The project team completed extensive community and stakeholder engagement. Jeff Zukiwsky, Senior Strategic Advisor, tells us, "We held workshops to develop a vision and principles for the Climate Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan to inform the risk assessment, as well as adaptation actions. Nine workshops were held with 74 stakeholders and resulted in 660 hours of participant time spent in meetings. Two public surveys gathered 169 resident comments on the Vision + Principles and 258 comments on the actions."

City staff, external stakeholders, and residents-at-large emphasized the importance of supporting vulnerable populations. Makenzie MacKay, Resilience & Sustainability Advisor, says, "Our project team had to consider vulnerability and equity across different neighbourhoods and demographics throughout the project. We worked with stakeholders to find meaningful ways to incorporate insights into final deliverables. Several adaptation actions focus specifically on supporting vulnerable populations.”

Associated supported the City in working with the Kainai Ecosystem Protection Association (KEPA) and help them to understand the role that the City can play in supporting KEPA’s work, as it relates to the Climate Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan. We learned about Indigenous observations of climate hazards in the Lethbridge area and heard specific stories about the risks and impacts to vulnerable populations such as Elders. The Climate Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan includes a land acknowledgement and a list of Indigenous organizations to partner with, in alignment with feedback from the Kainai Ecosystem Protection Association.

The final report brought all of this information into one cohesive, easily digestible package. The Climate Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan gives a clear direction for the City based on data, technical best practices, and community perspectives and priorities. The plan is pragmatic and public-facing - a resource to guide Lethbridge through its climate adaptation journey.