City of Vancouver wants your ‘king tides’ photos to help predict the future shoreline

EXTREMELY high tides known as king tides will lap against Vancouver’s shorelines until November 30. This phenomenon happens twice a year and offers the City a chance to visualize what normal sea levels will look like in the future as levels rise due to climate change.

The City is asking residents to snap photos of the shoreline during king tide season to support its engagement efforts and compare with the coastal flood maps we have created to understand vulnerable areas. Photos can be shared through the City’s Sea Level Rise Story Map by adding the date, time and location to photos and uploading: vancouver.ca/kingtides.

The remaining 2018 king tides are projected at:

· November 27, 9:26 a.m.

· November 28, 10:18 a.m.

· November 29, 11:10 a.m.

· November 30, 11:59 a.m.

Earlier this year, The City collected nearly 400 photos during the January king tides, which it compared with existing flood data and sea level rise projections. Additional images will help broaden the conversation on how Vancouver’s shoreline is changing, as it continues to build a thorough understanding of local risks and vulnerabilities to sea level rise, and map out the potential options to protect and adapt our coastline.

King tides can reach as high as five meters in elevation, about a meter higher than a normal high tide as a result of the sun and moon’s gravitational forces reinforcing one another. By 2050, normal winter high tides will be more like today’s annual king tide, meaning king tides and storms will lead to floods every year.

To address the concern of future sea level rise the City has developed a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, is working to reduce our greenhouse gases, and is in the process of developing a strategic plan for coastal flood and erosion risk due to increasing sea levels.

In July 2018, Council also approved recommendations to prepare the city’s vulnerable areas for sea level rise by implementing and planning for coastal flood protection. The recommendations focus on engagement, development, and design along the City’s coastline ensuring sea level rise is considered in future and ongoing developments.

More information can be found at:

vancouver.ca/green-vancouver/climate-change-adaptation-strategy.