Band Administrator, Deputy Fire Chief, and Backup Indian Registration/Administrator, Coldwater Indian Band

Key Outcomes

• 925 community members are better prepared for disasters thanks to the Hazard, Risk, and Vulnerability Analysis (HRVA) insights
• Working with Rebecca Innes Consulting (RIC) saved the Coldwater Indian Band over 6 months of work and overtime hours
• The HRVA highlights risk across the reserve including 130 homes, essential community spaces and roads, and the Coldwater River ecosystem
• RIC helped secure funding for the HRVA project as well as additional funding to improve the community’s Emergency Management Plan (EMP)

A Thriving Indigenous Community Getting Ready for Growth

In light of intense flooding in 2021, the Coldwater Indian Band knew they needed to improve their preparedness strategies. They needed more effective planning to support their growing community, protect important cultural assets, and ensure resilience in their local ecosystems.

Limited Capacity for Preparedness Planning

Like many Indigenous leadership teams, Coldwater Indian Band’s Chief and Council and Band Administration wear many hats. They needed extra support to complete preparedness initiatives for their community amidst increasingly frequent disasters.

HRVA Expertise, In-Depth Research, and Community Engagement

Having engaged RIC to help with a post-disaster needs assessment and recovery plan in 2021, Coldwater Indian Band chose to partner with the team again to conduct an HRVA and create a report that their community could use as a tool for emergency planning and communication.

A Growing Band Focused on Nurturing their Community and Land

The Coldwater Indian Band is based on the Coldwater Reserve, located in the Nicola Valley about 15 kilometres south of Merritt, British Columbia. The reserve also includes residential areas in Paul’s Basin, about 7 kilometres further south.

The region has been hit hard by various disasters in recent years, including fires and severe flooding due to an atmospheric river in 2021. In light of these disasters and the region’s increased risk, protecting the community is top-of-mind for Band Administrator and Deputy Fire Chief Laura Antoine and the Band members who call the valley home.

Coldwater Reserve supports a growing community of over 1,000 members with a diverse mix of families. At the heart of the reserve is the Nc’?etk?u Band School, an important hub for preserving the Nlaka’pamuxcin language, passing down traditional knowledge, and bringing the community together.

In addition to the homes and administration buildings on the reserve, the area is home to vital natural habitats, and a biodiverse community of plants and animals that are culturally and spiritually significant to the Band.

The Coldwater River runs the length of the reserve and is home to salmon, who are vulnerable to the increasing summer temperatures in the area. The region also has stands of Douglas fir and plays host to important populations of mountain caribou and goats, Williamson’s sapsucker, the flammulated owl, coastal tailed frogs, badgers, and
grizzly bears.

Overburdened Band Administration

Over the last few years, the Coldwater Indian Band’s population has been steadily increasing, posing new challenges for emergency preparedness. With rising concerns about keeping the community safe, Laura and her team have worked hard to prioritize planning for future disasters.

As is the case in many Indigenous communities, the leadership team on the Coldwater Reserve is very small. More often than not, each member must take on multiple roles. When they don’t have a dedicated emergency management specialist, Laura and her team do the work off the side of their desks.

Managing the 2021 flooding was a demanding project that left many team members burnt out as they grappled with the damage and psychological aftermath of the disaster. Laura knew she needed extra support around emergency management and preparedness planning given the limited bandwidth of her team.

“When you’re a Band Administrator, you wear a lot of hats,” she says. “Sometimes you can only scratch the surface of all the important things that need to be done.”

Continuing a Collaborative, Trusting Partnership

The Coldwater Indian Band had previously engaged Rebecca Innes Consulting (RIC) for a post-disaster needs assessment and recovery plan in the wake of the 2021 floods. After a positive experience with the firm, the Band decided to hire RIC again to support their ongoing emergency preparedness efforts.

RIC proactively identified that the Band could improve preparedness through a Hazard, Risk, and Vulnerability Analysis (HRVA) and that opportunities existed to secure extra funding to complete the HRVA.

“I appreciated Rebecca coming along again because she has a background in doing HRVAs,” Laura says. “She knew the questions to ask and, because she’s been with us for so long, she could see where we needed to improve.”

A Report Tailored to the Community’s Unique Needs

To initiate the HRVA project, RIC helped the Band put together a grant proposal to secure funding. Once the Band received the grant, RIC worked closely with Band Administration and community members to conduct a thorough analysis of the hazards and risks in the Coldwater community that mattered most to residents.

“I wanted to make sure we set aside time to have community members come in and provide input. Rebecca let our team lead the organization of community engagement,” says Laura. “Even though people went off topic, Rebecca gave them that extra time to share. She did a great job interpreting what community members were saying and putting it into the HRVA.”

The HRVA highlights issues that may not pose risks for years to come and clarifies their impact. For example, the Coldwater community had concerns about whether they were in the path of potential lava flow as the area is part of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt. Through in-depth research, RIC found that lava flow likely won’t affect the community but they do need to prepare for hazards like falling ash and earthquakes should an eruption occur.

The report also takes into account details about the area outside of the reserve that could impact the community in the event of a disaster. Four major highways surround the Reserve, including the Coquihalla. In the future, the Band may need to plan to allow evacuation traffic through Coldwater Road—the only route that gives them access to grocery stores and gas stations in Merritt.

Additionally, RIC made sure the language in the report was accessible, clear, and relevant. “Rebecca took some of the technical concepts out while meeting the requirements for an HRVA,” Laura says. “She changed some of the wording to make it more applicable to reserves. She also explained how the community’s feedback was incorporated into the report to those who participated in our discussion.”

Expanding Administration Capacity and Improving Emergency Management

The HRVA uncovered risk across the community, including over 130 homes, essential community spaces, critical roadways, and the Coldwater River ecosystem. With the HRVA insights, Laura, her team, and Chief and Council are empowered to get their community of over 925 Band members ready for disaster.

“The HRVA has given us an increased awareness of what we need to do and helped us refocus on the areas that need to be a priority. It’s showing us where we still have gaps,” Laura says.

With the HRVA in hand, RIC helped the Band apply for and secure additional funding to update their Emergency Management Plan (EMP). RIC will continue to work with Laura and the team as they make improvements to their EMP to get the community ready for potential disasters in the short- and long-term.

In addition, working with RIC on the HRVA project—rather than completing it themselves—saved the Coldwater Indian Band Administration team six months of work and overtime hours.

“Working with RIC keeps us from getting burnt out because they take on a lot of the emergency management tasks we need support with,” says Laura. “Rebecca and her team prioritized asking questions and getting feedback from our community that helped us improve everything in our emergency management strategy. She brings a new perspective, and she can keep us on track and focused on our goals.”