A major budget boost will allow Iceland to ramp up its national flood and avalanche protection initiatives, with the government investing ISK 900 million into these projects over the next five years.
This year alone, ISK 4 billion will be spent to accelerate urgent flood defense works in urban areas.
“Avalanche defences have repeatedly proven their value, which is why the new government is emphasizing accelerating the most urgent projects with increased budget allocations in the budget,” Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson, minister of the Environment, Energy and Climate, said in a statement on Monday.
Climate change and extreme weather events
The country’s flood defenses are already 70 per cent complete in 15 urban areas and will better protect homes and infrastructure from increasingly severe weather events, which have become more frequent due to climate change, the government said.
One of the largest projects is in Bíldudalur, a small coastal village in the Westfjords, where steep defensive walls will be built above the town, to the west of the Búðargil ravine. This phase of the project is set to finish in 2028, and once completed will give the village long-term protection from flooding, the government said.
Patreksfjörður, another Westfjords village to the south, is also having emergency flood defenses constructed to protect it from mudflows, which can sweep down the steep ravines and threaten homes in its path. Work is also finished up on flood defenses above the harbor, providing extra protection for the area.
In Flateyri, a small town nestled at the foot of steep mountains in the Westfjords, crews are reinforcing flood protections by adding three rows of steep defense cones above existing structures. These new cones will create a barrier to prevent floods from spilling over, like in January 2020 where the town was left with severe damage. The harbor area, which has become more vulnerable to flooding due to rising water levels, will also be better protected by the structures, the government said.
Other projects include mudflow channels in Ólafsvík, located on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, and the completion of avalanche barriers under Bjólfur in Seyðisfjörður, a village in the Eastfjords that receives heavy snowfall.
That project is expected to be finished by next year. In Neskaupstaður, a town on the east coast, construction on above-ground defenses is almost complete, and work is underway to upgrade the supporting infrastructure in the Drangagil catchment area.
Human element also to be addressed, says climate change, environment minister
Jóhannsson said the government will continue to strengthen physical defenses against floods and avalanches, but will also work to address the human element that has put lives at risk in the past.
“Next fall, I will propose a bill to the Althingi that is intended to strengthen the framework for avalanche protection and discourage people from staying outside the permitted use hours in buildings in hazardous areas,” Jóhannsson said.
“It is intolerable and unacceptable for people to put themselves and emergency responders at risk with such behavior, and this must be addressed.”
Source: Eye on the Arctic / www.rcinet.ca
