RI1.1Prioritize renewal of flood-prone culvert and bridges identified in the Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment in the City's 10-year Capital Plan and longer term servicing plans.

Flood events cause road closures when bridges and culverts along road segments are overtopped. The Kelowna Flood Risk Assessment (Associated Engineering, 2019) and the City of Kelowna Structures Flood Response Framework (Associated Engineering, 2022) identify the structures in Kelowna where overtopping may occur during certain return period events. The Kelowna Flood Risk Assessment conducted a quantitative hydrological assessment of five culverts along Gopher Creek and found that three of those culverts were at risk of overtopping during a 200-year event. The Structures Flood Response Framework uses the hydraulic analysis from the Flood Risk Assessment to provide guidelines for the safe operation of bridges throughout Kelowna during flood events. The Flood Response Framework identifies ten bridges along Mill Creek that are at risk of overtopping.

This analysis overlaid the at-risk structures on top of the road network to map where road overtopping may occur within Kelowna. The fraction of flooded roads in a traffic zone was derived using the location of the structures at risk of overtopping and the flooded road segments.

Associated Engineering. (2019). Kelowna Flood Risk Assessment.

Associated Engineering. (2022). City of Kelowna Structures Flood Response Framework.