Flooding in Duncan and North Cowichan serves as another reminder of the power of Mother Nature -- and the futility of our attempts to contain it. Not that British Columbia needs many more reminders. Floods have been a problem for centuries and will probably continue to cause property damage and put lives at risk for centuries to come.

Flooding is an inevitable risk given our high levels of precipitation. In winter, rain falls along the coast and snow settles on the mountains, and both cause rivers to swell as water makes its way to the ocean.

Any doubts should have been swept away in 1894, when severe flooding hit the Interior and the Fraser Valley. Or in 1948 or in 1972 in the same places.

We have had plenty of time to identify the flood plains that end up under water when a river overflows its banks. Yet we continue to build on them, because they are flat and appealing for housing -- except for a couple of wet days every few years.

Governments have been trying to deal with the flood threat by limiting construction in some high-risk areas, dredging rivers and building dikes. The provincial government says about 140 diking systems, measuring more than 1,100 kilometres in length, protect about 160,000 hectares, 100,000 buildings and 300,000 people. Dikes can't protect everything, of course. And they can fail.

The province has traditionally reimbursed property owners for flooding damage, which means all taxpayers are on the hook when the waters rise. Tough development restrictions might not thrill developers and municipalities, but they save all of us money.

The first step in reducing the potential impact is to ensure development on flood-prone lands is done with the risks in mind. Homes can be designed to put living space above the worst-case water line. Businesses in flood zones should be required to put the most water-sensitive work out of harm's way.

Buyers of buildings in high-risk areas need to be made aware of the dangers, and the steps that could be taken to minimize the financial loss. Some tough love would not hurt; if the government announced limits on its coverage, especially for new construction, that might convince more people to take responsibility.

Solutions are not just found in flood plains. Developments outside those areas can increase the risk. Those developments -- everything from clear-cutting a hillside to paving a shopping centre parking lot -- change the flow of water and often increase its speed. Water that would have been absorbed and released slowly into streams and rivers now floods into them. Dikes, by channeling rivers in one area, can increase flooding downstream. Gravel removal and dredging can have the same effect.

The spectacular geography of British Columbia also creates problems. Flat land close to rivers is at risk of flooding; hillsides bring the risk of slides; forested areas can burn. (And then there is the risk of earthquakes.)

That all poses significant challenges.

Still, limits are needed -- and nature has given us clues. Consider Rithet's Bog in Saanich, which was used for agriculture for almost a century.

The natural peat bog could have been filled in and used for housing, but that would have been a tremendous mistake. It performs a valuable function every year when the rains come, providing a reservoir that minimizes the potential impact on the neighbourhood.

Nature provides its own balances, and too often we run into trouble when we try to outsmart it. We need to hear what it is trying to tell us and act accordingly.