Are there enough permanent dikes in Quebec?

There is increasing demand forpermanentdikes and other long-term solutions in flood-prone areas throughout Southern Quebec after yet another season of battling rising rivers, streams and lakes.

le-Bizard and Pierrefonds-Roxborohave both hadanother wet spring, but this year the Montreal boroughstook early steps to prevent a major disaster setting up temporary dikes to counterfloodwaters from surging intoriverside neighbourhoods.

And it worked.

"With the dikes, I can tell you that very few people have been affected," said borough mayor Normand Marinacci, who is calling forthree permanent dikes to protect hundreds of homes in thearea.

Pierrefonds-Roxboromayor Dimitrios"Jim"Beissaid permanent dikes mayjust be what theborough needs as well.

After the 2017 floods, the borough had natural dikes built to secure high-risk areas.But once again this year,Pierrefonds-Roxborostill needed additional,temporary structures to protect risk areas.

So far, work to build temporary dikes has costle-Bizardbetween $2million and$3 million. In Pierrefonds-Roxboro, the cost is $2.5 million.

"We didn't wait for anyone to direct us in our borough," said Beis.

"We knew all of the areas that were vulnerable and we looked at where we would be able to erect natural dikes to protect specific areas that border communities of up to possibly 100 homes at a time."

Beissaid municipalities need financial help from the province"because we are not able, as acity, as a borough, to absorb the costs associated with the creation of natural dikes."

Marinacci also believes that the Legault government should contribute.

"The Quebec government has every interest in helping us because they pay the bill when people are flooded," he said.

"They've put millions and millions of dollars into paying fordamages."

Temporary dikes have been used across the province this spring to protect neighbourhoods and individual homes.

As officials from affected areas anticipateincreasingly frequent flooding due to climate change, the two borough mayors are not alone in the call for provincially funded, permanent solutions.

Residents join call for permanent solutions

le-Bizard resident Nicole David-Strausslives in a flood zone, but she was not affected by the flood this year thanks to a temporarydike.

Now she wants more than just a temporary structure."We should find a permanent solution because we can't go through this all the time," she said.

Citizens of the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville are also asking for the construction of a permanent dike to protect their residences.

Joachim Le Garrec bought his home in the borough 10 years ago when the area was not considered a flood zone.

Still, the swollen Rivire des Prairies burst into his neighbourhood in the spring of 2017. This year, floodwaters were held back by a temporary, 250-metre dike.

Le Garrec says a new, permanent dike is needed to give him and his neighbours peace of mind.

Flood prevention planning underway

While municipalities are demanding funds to build dikes, the president of the Association of Professional Engineers of the Government of Quebec, Marc-Andr Martin, is askingthe Legault government to review the Dam Safety Actto include dikes built in a municipal environment.

"This would assess the risks to the populations, determine design and inspection criteria," he explained.

"With climate change, we are currently sitting on a time bomb," Martin added.

Despite increasingdike requests, the provincial government says it's not the ultimatesolution across the board.

Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette, who represents theDeux-Montagneriding, told reporters on Friday that each case is different and "it's vital that we evaluate the situation of each, individual reality."