Kerr Wood Leidal Wins ACEC-BC Award for Innovative Tool to Assess Shoreline Impacts of Climate Change on BC Lakes

Kerr Wood Leidal Associates Ltd. (KWL) has been awarded the prestigious Award of Merit in the Soft Engineering category of the ACEC-BC Awards for Engineering Excellence for their innovative and data-driven approach to estimating shoreline impacts caused by climate change-induced droughts.

KWL’s Shoreline Impacts Calculator for Changing Climates (SICCC) is a groundbreaking tool that uses advanced statistics and computational modelling to project changes in physical characteristics around waterbodies for scenarios of regulation and future climate change scenarios. In addition, the tool estimates the impact of these changes on a lake’s natural boundary and shoreline, providing valuable insights for stakeholders, decision-makers and citizens.

The SICCC approach was successfully applied to evaluate the impacts of raising the Cowichan Lake Weir in British Columbia, with results delivered to stakeholders through an easy-to-use, web-based GIS mapping tool. This approach has removed a significant barrier to climate action for the community by empowering them to visualize the potential detailed shoreline changes and make informed decisions on trade-offs related to changing water levels.

KWL is honoured to receive this recognition from ACEC-BC and would like to acknowledge the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s support and partnership on the project. KWL remains committed to using innovative and sustainable engineering solutions to address complex challenges facing our communities and the environment.

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