The largest landowner in the Ottawa-Gatineau region could soon be overwhelmed by the consequences of climate change.
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This was reported in a Globe and Mail article on Thursday. According to information from the daily, the National Capital Commission (NCC), which manages 10% of the lands of the national capital, 1,600 properties and several federal buildings, finds itself in an “almost critical” situation.
The NCC predicts that weather damage to properties will “exponentially increase,” as will citizen complaints. Financially, the consequences are already being felt for the state corporation.
In a report it has just published on the risks of climate change, the NCC notes several problematic elements.
“We have identified 124 climate-related risks that the NCC must take into account to improve its resilience to climate change,” the Crown corporation said in a press release. These risks include hotter and wetter summers, short-duration and high-intensity precipitation events, and extreme events such as ice storms and freezing rain. In total, 49% of risks require immediate action.
Periods of heat and drought lead to faster deterioration of roads and bridges managed by the company, which cuts the life of infrastructure in half. This also has the effect of promoting the proliferation of algae which clogs the water pumps. In addition, the intense rains are already causing floods that are eroding the shorelines.
Also according to Globe and Mail, NCC parks are still recovering from repeated flooding in 2017 and 2019. Damage costs were in the tens of millions of dollars.