High River looks to dry out town’s soggy reputation

Jodi Dawson thinks it’s high time people stopped talking about High River’s soggy history.

The town of 12,000 just south of Calgary gained an international profile three years ago when flooding in parts of southern Alberta resulted in billions of dollars in damage. High River was one of the hardest-hit communities. Entire neighbourhoods were under water for weeks.

Dawson, High River’s economic development manager, says a lot has changed in three years and it’s time to put the past behind.

“We need to overcome that now at an Alberta level,” said Dawson.

High River has developed a new economic development and marketing campaign to attract new businesses, residents and visitors to town. The campaign, which is to run until next year, is aimed at shifting perceptions away from the flood, said Dawson, who added it’s a bit frustrating being remembered as the town where a big flood took place.

There’s no indication that investors and businesses are shying away from High River because of the flood, Dawson said, but there are a lot of questions about ensuring history doesn’t repeat itself.

“We’re the most flood-protected community in Canada as a result of what we’ve been through.”

The town’s High Praises campaign uses different phrases to showcase key aspects of living in the community, including High Life for the quality of living and High Returns for entrepreneurial spirit.