A new report warns increased ice-jam flooding, contaminated well fields and sewage overflows are possibilities arising from climate change on the St. John river. Senior freshwater specialist Simon Mitchell from the World Wildlife Fund has been working with communities along the Upper St. John River Valley including Woodstock, Hartland and Florenceville-Bristol, identifying key risks and potential impacts from climate change.
“There’s been significant impacts, more-or-less in every community up and down the St. John River watershed in the last five and six years,” said Mitchell. “The quicker we can move to developing adaptation plans and implementing them, the better.”
Some of the key risks for all three communities identified in the report include:
- Power outages
- Flooded businesses
- An impact on water delivery lines
- Possible well-field contamination.
Some of the adaptation possibilities to impacts include:
- Ensuring that municipalities have backup power
- Building flood barriers and berms
- Locating new water sources for Woodstock
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- For a complete list of risks and adaptations identified, read CBC’s full story here.
- Check out Simon Mitchell’s ongoing blogs and work with the St. John river here.