Victoria, BC is receiving more than $15.3 million in federal funds to support a project to improve the city’s underground infrastructure.

The funds, from the federal Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, will be used to help replace or refurbish elements of water distribution, sanitary-sewer collection and storm drains.

Portions of the underground infrastructure are so critically dated, that they need to be replaced before the worst happens, officials have warned.

“A lot of the infrastructure in the City of Victoria is aging, it is 100 years old in some cases,” said Jas Paul, assistant director of engineering with the city of Victoria.

Paul added that the funding will allow the replacement process to accelerate. Retrofitting efforts can include measures like installing new pipes within existing pipes, he explained.

During the presentation of the funding, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations Marc Miller stated that the federal assistance deals with disaster concerns that other parts of Canada are facing as well.

“The science is clear and troubling,” Miller said in his statement. “Recent scientific studies published by Environment Canada note that Canada’s climate change is warming twice as fast as the global average, posing serious threats to our well-being and the stability of our communities and economy.”

Miller explained that the money being provided to Victoria is part of a $2 billion federal investment in disaster mitigation over the next 10 years.

“We can no longer stand by and wait to shore up our communities against this increasing threat,” the parliamentary secretary remarked.

Times Colonist reported that the money will be spent through 2028.