Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, climate change is real and flooding is real. This government has the capacity, resources, and financing to address disasters and should not offload it on the communities. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of MACA, what is the department's staff complement and qualifications of those who provide flood modeling data for flood scenarios in the NWT? I know that the communities do not have that capacity and expertise, and we cannot expect them to carry those costs for that capacity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'll actually get the Minister of ENR to answer that question because it will be more of an ENR question.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has three dedicated hydrologists. During spring breakup, these three hydrologists assessed conditions and relay information on to Municipal and Community Affairs, communities, and residents regarding water levels and ice conditions and forecast weather. If required, they can reach out to other agencies and scientists such as Environment and Climate Change Canada and Natural Resources Canada to assess conditions such as weather, forecasts, and satellite imagery. They also participate in the EMO meetings as scheduled and as needed. So that's the ENR's part of the EMO process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Minister for that. It was a mouthful, and the flood still caught us off guard.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me what work, if any, is the department doing to assess those factors in the Hay River watershed that may lead to flooding? What, if any, flood monitoring reports has the department generated for the communities of Hay River and K'atlodeeche and are they shared with communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. ENR hydrologists compile an annual spring water outlook report that assesses snow conditions and current water levels. These reports are or the reports this year was released to the public on April 25th, 2022. Daily water monitoring bulletins are generated during spring breakup, and they're shared with Municipal and Community Affairs and communities. As mentioned earlier, ENR hydrologists participated in the Town of Hay River and NWT's EMO calls as needed and when they required them to be there, they were there. The bulletins are made available by the department on its website as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Minister for that, and I'm glad to hear the hydrologists participate in the EMO exercises. Unfortunately, I wasn't invited to any of those so I wasn't privy to it.
Considering the drainage area of the Hay River basin is mostly in Alberta and BC and with the drainage area of approximately 47,900 square kilometres, can the Minister confirm if the department has any standing on the Alberta Watershed Planning and Advisory Council or at least consult with the advisory council or other organization with similar interests? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I hear the concerns by my Member from Hay River South. I can tell you that as the Member that was with Nahendeh, I wasn't invited to those meetings as well. It's local EMO and the team that are doing the work. So I understand your frustrations about it, but it's the process, and that's how the work is done.
ENR hydrologists have worked close have close working relationships with their counterparts in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Yukon. They receive information about snow accumulation each spring and other information of water levels as needed. This year ENR hydrologists participated in calls with the Alberta river ice forecasting centre. So we have a close working relationship with our counterparts in other provincial jurisdictions and the Yukon territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we talk about lessons learned and the lesson is that we have communities in flood zones. We have residents in flood zones. We have businesses in flood zones. That will not change. So when will the Minister start discussions with communities and federal government on what can be done to mitigate damage, or do we need to be taught further lessons and incur more costs before we take some action on mitigation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can honestly tell you this year our government provided more information to residents, communities, on proactive steps to prevent flood damage. That started with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, ENR as well part giving that information out there. ENR is currently working with Natural Resource Canada to update flood mapping for the NWT that were created back in 1980s. ENR is cost sharing this work under the federal Flood Hazarding Identification and Mapping Program. Updated maps are the first step in understanding existence of areas impacted, and they're important tools for consideration of future planning and mitigation efforts.
I can tell the Member and this House and the public that ENR staff were there as soon as they were allowed to be and safely get in there, and they started doing that mapping, identifying where the high watermark is. So this is all started part of the process as we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
