For our Bow River members, we continue to hear your concerns about wanting to know what has been going on with respect to the Bow.
Read through the most recent updates below and there will be more information to come this summer.
Bow River Reservoir Options feasibility study underway
The phase one conceptual assessment completed in March 2020, with the consultant’s (Wood Canada Limited) submission of the main report.
Throughout spring and summer 2020, Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) assessed the results of phase one to support a decision on, and initial planning for, phase two, the feasibility study.
The conceptual assessment report was released publicly in fall 2020, along with confirmation that AEP was continuing with the Bow River Reservoir Options project (BRRO).
At the same time as the release of the conceptual assessment report, the RFP process for the feasibility study kicked off. Wood Canada Limited was awarded the contract in December 2020.
Budget 2020 saw $15 million allocated to Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) for the feasibility study over three years: $2 million in the first year, and $7 million and $6 million in the second and third years, respectively (and funds can be carried over if not used in the designated year).
Although there is a notable gap between the completion of the conceptual assessment report in March 2020 to the kickoff of the feasibility study in January 2021, work had been progressing behind the scenes to allow the feasibility study to commence.
So will the gap delay the project?
AEP says no. They’ll continue to manage the project within budget and to the March 2023 timeline, acknowledging that the priority is to ensure the work is done well.
View the 2019 Bow River reservoir timeline here.
The good news is that work on the feasibility study is now well underway; this includes geotechnical, environmental investigation, water security/drought mitigation assessment, arranging land access for field work, and planning for stakeholder engagement.
AEP will arrange three community update meetings — expected to be in Spring 2021, Spring 2022, and Fall 2022 — to inform stakeholder organizations (including CRCAG) on the progress of phase two.
Stay tuned for more details following those stakeholder engagement events.
Read the May 2021 BRRO newsletter here.
TransAlta agreement extended
In April 2021, the Alberta government extended its Modified Operations Agreement with TransAlta for another 5-year term. Read more here.
Ghost Reservoir (Ghost rapid drawdown project)
The study to evaluate rapid drawdown of the Ghost reservoir is complete and being assessed by TransAlta. Should the project be feasible at an affordable cost, it would require field testing possibly over multiple years.
“Modifications to increase the drawdown rate would be important to the success of all the flood and drought scenarios…” states the report.
We expect to hear more about the Ghost rapid drawdown project this summer.
Media coverage:
Bowness barrier on hold
In 2017, Council approved the City of Calgary’ s Flood Mitigation Measures Assessment Report, which identified four sites on the Bow River where construction of barriers are intended to work in tandem with upstream reservoir mitigation solutions now being assessed, and the modified TransAlta Ghost Reservoir operations:
• Bowness
• Downtown
• Sunnyside
• Pearce Estates-Inglewood
The work on the proposed barrier for Bowness has recently been suspended given concerns raised by local area residents. Please refer to media coverage below.
- Calgary Herald – Bowness residents, city spar over proposed flood berm
- Calgary Herald – Neighbourhood opposition stalls Bowness flood barrier
- CBC News – Opposition from Bowness residents derails city’s plan to build flood protection barrier
- CTV – Opposition grows against Bowness berm among community homeowners
- Global News – Bowness flood barrier on hold after residents oppose project: memo
- CRCAG post –Community Information Session in Bowness reveals new details
Additionally, Bow River communities and all communities will have interest in the provincial flood mapping currently underway. We will have an update on flood mapping and floodway policy shortly.
If you’d like to get in touch with us, reach out to info@crcactiongroup.com.
Regards,
Your CRCAG Group