SPRINGBANK DAM DELAYED

Flood prevention project won’t be completed until 2022, says NDP

The contentious Springbank antiflooding dry dam project faces a 10-month delay, the NDP government said Friday.

Most of the delay is due to real or anticipated regulatory holdups in its approvals and a later seasonally adjusted construction start, said Transportation Minister Brian Mason — a sign critics say is proof of the proposal’s unsuitability.

“The reality is, the timeline of this review and other factors will result in the project being ready 10 months later than our earlier prediction,” said Mason.

Last fall, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency said the project didn’t conform to its guidelines — concerns that have now been addressed.

But the agency and provincial regulators have yet to approve the project.

Mason said the extra time shouldn’t result in added costs that have already ballooned to $432 million, though the province expects to recoup some of those expenses through later land resales.

To hasten the process, Mason said his ministry has assembled a new legal team to navigate land sales with residents, some of whom are opposed to the effort designed to temporarily divert water from the Elbow River in case of flood conditions like those in 2013.

But he said if the negotiation process fails, expropriation would be an extreme move and one fraught with legal doubts.

“We are compelled almost by legislation — until we have approval it’s a last resort,” said Mason. “That would add to the delay.” He said 10 to 15 per cent of the land needed for the dry dam north of Highway 8 and east of Highway 22 has been purchased.

Mason said he hopes construction will start in mid-2020 and be completed by late 2022.

The delay, due mainly to environmental review concerns, is proof the project is wrong-headed and should be built upstream on Crown land at McLean Creek, said Springbank rancher Ryan Robinson.

“It’s been four years and they still don’t have approval — it’s a total joke,” said Robinson, with the group Don’t Damn Springbank.

But he said that reality also further drags out the process for residents who face losing their land and homes, some of them owned by multiple generations.

“It’s endless torture for the residents of Springbank — it’s going to turn into what it is now, endless delays,” said Robinson, who vowed to continue fighting the project to the bitter end.

Mason’s expression of reluctance to pursue expropriation didn’t encourage Robinson.

“What we hear in the press are threats of expropriation, so it’s upsetting for our group,” he said.

Mason said the Springbank site is still the best one fiscally and environmentally, while the McLean Creek option would add “at least two years” to the work.

Alberta Party Calgary-Elbow MLA Greg Clark said the longer time frame is the result of the province mishandling the project.

“On the regulatory filing, they didn’t fully understand the complexity of it,” he said.

“It’s still the right project to move forward with and I’ll hold their feet to the fire.”

The delay is a disappointment for a city still menaced by the threat of flooding, said Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

“That said, I am confident that the provincial government will continue to act to protect downstream communities — our people, property and economy — from future flooding,” he said. “They have committed to build this dam, and I know they want to get it right.”

Another proponent of the dry dam, Brenda Leeds Binder, said the delay will “leave the city exposed to another flooding season.”

But Leeds Binder of the group Calgary River Communities Action Group said she’s heartened by Mason’s continued commitment to the plan that she considers to be for the greater good.

A public consultation process on the dry dam will include two information sessions next week — May 22 at 5 p.m. at the Wild Wild West Event Centre, 67 Commercial Way in Rockyview County, and May 24 at the Calgary First Church of the Nazarene, 65 Richard Way S.W., at 5 p.m.

It’s endless torture for the residents of Springbank — it’s going to turn into what it is now, endless delays.