Speak up about flood mitigation plans: Mason

Alberta’s transportation minister says the voices of Calgarians need to be heard as consultations on a major flood mitigation project drags on, and he’s extending that invitation to Hatters as well.

Brian Mason took the unusual step of calling for greater participation ahead of two public meetings set for the coming week which will involve the proposed Springbank Off-stream Reservoir. It is currently being evaluated by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, but has been delayed as ranchers and owners of land needed for the dry reservoir oppose the project.

The province considers it the best option to curtail high river levels like those that swamped downtown Calgary in 2013, as well as Medicine Hat, other communities and also threatened the Bassano Dam.

It has been delayed as much as 10 months, said Mason, due to the new federal review, which includes an open comment period that is now open until June 15.

“I would suggest that if communities have concerns and believe this project would be beneficial to them, that would be useful information for the agency to consider,” Mason said in a media teleconference on Friday.

“I’d encourage them to do so.”

The project would draw water off the Elbow River in times of flood emergency, and store it in order to level off peak flow as the Elbow meets the Bow River in downtown Calgary.

Combined with the Glenmore Reservoir, it could accommodate the same volume of water as seen in 2013, said Mason, and release it at a safe rate.

The 2013 flood reached Medicine Hat as the Bow joins the Oldman River to create the South Saskatchewan River. High water here forced evacuations and badly damaged about 500 homes.

People and groups that oppose the Springbank dam plan, including the Tsuut'ina First Nation, want the project built further upstream.

The reservoir is now under a one-year regulatory review, which Mason said pushes a completion date to early 2022. He hoped construction on an approved project could begin in early 2020.

In the meantime, the province says it will focus on buying land for the project.

Mason says if owners won't sell the land it may be expropriated in the interest of protecting Calgary, including the downtown business district, the Calgary Zoo and the Stampede.

"It is our firm intention to deal equitably with these owners and offer fair compensation, and we remain hopeful that we will be able to negotiate an agreement," Mason said in a release Friday.

"We do not want to expropriate this land, but we will do what is necessary to protect Calgarians. Springbank remains the best option to protect Calgary."

With Canadian Press files