Earlier this year, the provincial government announced three upstream storage options for the Bow River that were identified in the Bow River Water Management Project report in May 2017.
This month, Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) awarded the contract for the Bow Basin Water Management Options Phase 1: Conceptual Assessment study (value $2M) to Wood Canada Limited, specifically its Environment & Infrastructure Solutions team located in Calgary.
Wood Canada Limited is a subsidiary of the John Wood Group PLC, based in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Together with its subsidiaries, John Wood Group PLC provides project, engineering, and technical services to the energy and industrial markets in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates in five segments: Asset Solutions Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia; Assets Solutions Americas; Specialist Technical Solutions; Environment and Infrastructure Solutions; and Investment Services. [more]
John Wood Group PLC has 25,000 employees and 235 offices in North America (including 7 offices in Calgary) and has been active in North America for 125 years.
AMEC Foster Wheeler has recently joined Wood Group, so the people working on this assessment are likely the ones that have been involved in various facets of the Calgary flood mitigation work for many years under the AMEC Foster Wheeler name.
The three upstream options to be reviewed are:
- New Glenbow reservoir – New dam and reservoir on the Bow River (part way between Bearspaw Dam and Cochrane).
- New Morley reservoir – New dam and reservoir in a wide floodplain area upstream of Ghost Reservoir.
- Expand Ghost River reservoir – This option would look at raising the Ghost Reservoir dam and adding a lower outlet, so that there is more storage capacity in the reservoir.
The Bow Basin Water Management Options project will be divided into four phases. Each phase of the project will require a discrete decision, by government, to progress to the next phase.
Phase 1: Conceptual Assessment
Phase 2: Feasibility Study
Phase 3: Detailed Design and Engineering
Phase 4: Construction
The conceptual assessment will include hydrology study, conceptual engineering design, high-level geotechnical investigation, table top environmental scan, and stakeholder and Indigenous communities pre-engagement.
The intent is to study all three options so that a reasonable comparison can be made. This will inform the next phase of the project, the Feasibility Study, which will lead to a recommendation as to which option is best.
Project scope and milestones for the conceptual assessment are outlined in the Terms of Reference.
We will be sure to update you with any new information we receive.
If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us at info@crcactiongroup.com.
Regards,
Your CRCAG Board