Collecting feedback for Community Climate Adaptation Plan
The City of Morden is working on a comprehensive plan called 'Shaping Morden's Future Together.' A three-part set of plans to help provide structure for future planning. The third plan in this initiative is the Community Climate Adaptation Plan. The first step in creating this plan is to gather community feedback through a survey.
According to the City of Morden website, "The City of Morden is working with Urban Systems, a professional consulting firm, to develop a Community Climate Adaptation Plan for our city."
How to prepare for the survey
Mayor Nancy Penner said people can prepare by looking at a couple of documents before filling out the survey to learn more.
"There are a couple of attachments that we encourage the community to read ahead of time. Why are we doing this project, and when is the project taking place, and what does it involve? So, one of the attachments is our timeline, and the second part of it is how do we assess climate risk, and what are some of the hazards out there?"
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The climate is changing
Penner went on to recognize that the climate in Morden is changing.
"We're seeing some years that we have extreme heat; we see precipitation changes. I mean, Morden is well aware that we went through a drought a couple of years ago. We saw hotter and drier summers. Right now, in different areas of the province, we're seeing wildfires. We're seeing the smoke effects in our areas."
"We're seeing weather-whiplash. At the end of our drought, over a weekend, at the end of April in 2022, we went from extreme drought to flood. Our lake was 13 1/2 feet below full supply level. And over that weekend with the weather warming up and rains, our lake went from way below full supply to 3 1/2 feet over the spillway and we saw flooding within the community." - Mayor Penner on extreme weather changes in recent years.
Costly effects on the community
Both Alvey and Parkhill Street bridges were heavily damaged due to flooding, which incurred costs to the taxpayer.
The irony is not lost on Penner that while serving on a drought committee, the last meeting for the group was cancelled due to flooding.
How will this feedback help?
Feedback from residents will help the council create a Climate Adaptation Plan. It will also help create awareness and understanding of the climate risks.
"And this survey that is available online will take the individual through a number of questions and look at the climate risks and how the community can go forward and develop a climate adaptation plan."
She encourages everyone to click on the link on the website or social media and take the time to fill out this important Climate Adaptation Plan Survey.
Next steps
Penner described the next steps on how council will use this information and how it will be shared with residents.
"In the fall, we will do the Community ride risk assessment, over the winter, we'll develop the community Climate Adaptation Plan, and then in the spring of 2026, we'll report back to our residents and community partners through an open house and various means of communication."
