Members of the CRCAG recently met with GOA officials that have been involved in working to bring forward flood mitigation options for the Bow River. It is our understanding that AMEC Foster Wheeler had been re-contracted by the government to examine what mitigation opportunities exist on the Bow River.  This work has identified a range of options beyond current TransAlta infrastructure.

Essentially these opportunities can be broken down into 3 categories:

• First category of mitigation option would be operational, which would entail working with existing infrastructure.
• Second category would be structural in nature and involve the construction of new facilities that would be multipurpose in nature. These would allow their use to be for flood mitigation and drought relief.
• The third category would be a combination of employing both above.

For the land required for the any potential options considered, some of this land held by the Crown, some of it resides on First Nations land and some of it resides in private hands. Any consideration on where to construct will certainly entail negotiations with the various landholders.

AMEC will be presenting their findings at the upcoming Sept. 17 Water Collaborative, with their final report with recommendations to the GOA to come sometime at the end of September.

Given the complexity of the Bow River, it is felt that even more time, effort, and resources will be required to put effective flood mitigation in place for the Bow River, but the good news is that the government is actively reviewing options for Bow River flood mitigation.