Province says flood readiness effort ‘redoubled’
CALGARY The NDP government says the province is far better prepared for potential spring flooding than it was in 2013, when a massive deluge swamped Calgary and parts of southern Alberta.
In question period Wednesday, Wildrose MLA Dave Hanson pressed the government on its readiness for a possible flood, saying communities such as Calgary were “nervously watching the weather” given the high snowpack level in the mountains.
Infrastructure Minister Brian Mason acknowledged that southern Alberta and Calgary are under the risk of flood.
“It’s something this government takes very seriously,” he said.
“We remember the devastation of people’s lives and property during the last flood in 2013.”
Mason said the possibility of flooding shows the importance of projects such as the planned Springbank dam, which has faced opposition from some local landowners and the Tsuut’ina Nation.
Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said there have been numerous changes made to the government’s approach since the Calgary flood, which caused more than $6 billion in damage and forced more than 100,000 people from their homes.
“Our province — in particular, on the flooding question — has redoubled our efforts to ensure our communities are safe,” she said.
“We have much better river forecasting than we did prior to the 2013 flood. Our government has invested in that ... There’s a lot more public information. There’s a lot more co-ordination with municipalities.”
Phillips’ ministry said improvements to forecasting include enhanced weather model outputs, 68 rainfall alarms in the Eastern Slopes and Swan Hills, and a new web portal for community emergency and water managers to access information.
The province says it has invested more than $92 million in flood mitigation projects in the Calgary area since the 2013 flood.
About 20 projects under a flood recovery and erosion control program are complete, while other resilience measures are a work in progress.
Mayor Naheed Nenshi said last month that provincial investments will substantially increase the city’s protection but won’t immunize the city.
He said the province needs to commit to further mitigation efforts upstream on the Bow River.
TransAlta Utilities, which operates a series of dams on the Bow upstream from Calgary, committed last year to altering water levels at the structures during the spring and early summer flood season to reduce the risk.
The 2013 flood that saw the Bow and Elbow rivers spill their banks in Calgary was caused by a number of factors: Three days of unrelenting precipitation between June 19 and 21 combined with a deep mountain snowpack left soil saturated, sending a rush of concentrated water downstream to unsuspecting communities.
Alberta Environment said last week that the Rocky Mountain snowpack in southern Alberta is 58 millimetres higher than it was in 2013, although the province cautioned that a deep snowpack doesn’t necessarily translate into flooding.