The Province has published draft Flood Hazard Area Maps and public engagement is now open until February 12. Engagement is being conducted online through a 3-minute long survey.
Before you submit the survey, we’re sharing Calgary-relevant information and surfacing key highlights you’ll want to consider.
At our 2023 AGM in November, the matter of Flood Hazard Area Maps received significant interest. Both for the new designation of “high hazard flood fringe” that would surely have implications for property owners, and because any protection offered by the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir (SR1) and the Sunnyside flood barrier would not be reflected in the draft maps that AEPA intended to publish in late 2023, and finalize by Spring 2024.
CRCAG took swift action to advocate against the publication of Calgary Flood Hazard Area Maps in this potentally detrimental manner.
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Advocating for a revised approach to the draft Calgary Flood Hazard Maps
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First, some context:
Flood Hazard Area Maps identify the boundaries of various areas that are impacted by a “design” flood of a 1:100 year event, historically labelled “Floodway” “Flood Fringe” and “Overland Flood” areas. The location of these zones is important as building development policies are based on them given perceived risk of flood loss.
In 2013, they were the basis of the Floodway Buy-Out Program, home repair standards, decisions regarding insurance availability and premiums, mortgage availability and cost, and other stakeholder interests. Throughout the years, we have commented on many aspects of flood recovery based on these designations and their impact (read our many flood map-related posts). We have consistently expressed our concern that poor policy could do more unintended damage than flood waters themselves, and we wished to have some input to how these Flood Hazard Area Maps were finalized and then reflected in future policy.
Concerns with AEPA’s planned approach to map release
After learning details about the impending release of draft Calgary Flood Hazard Area Maps (originally planned for December 2023), CRCAG members raised numerous concerns with the Province’s planned approach.
CRCAG had several discussions with the Environment and Protected Areas Ministry (AEPA) and the City of Calgary about the concerns. The refined concerns were detailed in a letter to AEPA Minister Rebecca Schulz, accompanied by a request for the AEPA Ministry to collaborate with CRCAG to find a more appropriate approach for the maps.
Relating to the Calgary Flood Hazard Maps, CRCAG’s concerns were:
- The maps will be finalized in Spring 2024, yet completely outdated with respect to the Elbow River communities within a year, and definitely before the next flood season in 2025, when SR1 comes online, and outdated for Sunnyside when its barrier is operational later in 2025.
- Because the maps will be outdated shortly after being finalized, we were concerned about misleading and prejudicial labels attached to properties, for example the new designation of “high hazard flood fringe” attaching to a property that potentially would be outside the flood hazard entirely, or at worst designated as “protected flood fringe”, after the maps were updated to account for the SR1 flood mitigation infrastructure.
- Our membership was not confident that by Spring 2025, once SR1 is operational – a new version of the Calgary flood hazard map would be immediately released, leaving misleading and prejudicial outdated maps in circulation.
We are pleased to advise that the AEPA Ministry has decided to adjust its approach to the release of the Calgary Flood Hazard Maps, as further explained by Minister Schulz (read her response letter) and summarized in the (slightly edited) communication from the City to CRCAG below.
The gist:
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- Elbow — Draft flood hazard zones along the Elbow River between Glenmore Dam and the Bow River confluence, where the impact to landowners is expected to be most significant, are not being displayed in the online flood map viewer and information related to flood hazard zones in draft reports has been removed.
- Elbow — The Province is committed to releasing revised flood maps in the affected areas when the Springbank Off-stream Reservoir is fully operational.
- Bow — Unfortunately, because there is no firm date for Sunnyside flood barrier to be operational, the Province will release the Calgary flood hazard map for the Bow River with the new designations present.
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About the flood studies and public engagement
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- The release and engagement for these maps is part of a larger initiative for 27 new flood studies, covering over 1,600 kilometres of river through more than 65 municipalities and First Nations.
- This is the second round of public engagement for this study, with the first round having occurred in January 2021. The second round focuses on draft flood hazard maps which define floodway and flood fringe areas to help with long term planning.
- You do not need to be an engineer or flood expert to view or provide feedback. The provincial government will carefully consider all feedback received and will revise the draft flood maps to address technical errors, as appropriate. Share your thoughts on draft flood maps from the Bow and Elbow River flood study by going to https://www.alberta.ca/bow-elbow-river-flood-study-engagement by February 12, 2024.
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Click to complete the public engagement survey
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Flood study engagements (where you can submit feedback and access relevant info to help inform your response)
The main “umbrella” public engagement page for all draft flood studies is https://www.alberta.ca/flood-study-engagements. This page contains a list of flood studies with active public engagement, including the Bow and Elbow River flood study. The page links to individual web pages for each study, with unique online flood map viewer links, fact sheets with study-specific details and about flood studies in general, draft report and map library PDFs for those interested, and survey links where the public can provide feedback.
To find the map that will apply to Hillhurst Sunnyside when the Sunnyside Flood Barrier Project is complete, follow the link to https://www.alberta.ca/bow-elbow-river-flood-study-engagement and from there expand the “Draft Study Reports” menu item, then choose “New – Design Flood Hazard Mapping Report (PDF, 36.1 MB)”, or download the report directly by clicking https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/epa-draft-bow-elbow-design-flood-hazard-report-apr-2023-redacted.pdf. Scroll past the first 103 pages of that report and the post-Sunnyside Flood Barrier map can be found on page 104 (Figure 5 of 34 in Appendix B “Design Flood Hazard Maps” of the Design Flood Hazard Mapping Report).
Flood Hazard Identification Program (about the program)
Refreshed study update notices for all our new studies have been posted to www.floodhazard.alberta.ca, which has also been updated to provide more information about flood mapping and all our draft and final studies.
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For more detail, the below communication was originally authored and distributed by the City of Calgary.
Changes to Calgary’s Flood Hazard Map: Incorporating Mitigation in Place
Calgary’s updated flood hazard mapping reflects key investments in flood mitigation, which result in lower flood risks for many areas in Calgary. The flood zones mapped reflect risks from a 1:100 (1% chance) flood, which we meet or exceed through mitigation projects* (see note below). The flood hazard area will have four zones, two of which are new, to reflect varying levels of risk:
Floodway (highest risk)
High Hazard Flood Fringe (new)
Flood Fringe
Protected Flood Fringe (lowest risk) (new)
From our work to understand the impacts of mapping on our community, we can share the following:
Calgary’s Lower Elbow (below Glenmore Reservoir) does not show detailed hazard zones due to the upcoming operation of the Springbank Reservoir (SR1) on the Elbow River in 2025. Updated zones will be published for both the Bow and the Elbow Rivers in 2025, after SR1 is operational.
Structural mitigation under construction or in planning phases are not yet reflected in new maps, such as the Sunnyside Barrier. Once projects are completed, the province has a process for reassessing the impacts on calculated flood levels and flood maps and will consider impacts to the flood map. In some cases, including for the Sunnyside Barrier, post project scenarios have been modeled and are addressed in the accompanying report.
Regulating development in flood zones remains within The City’s jurisdiction. Until the Flood Hazard Area maps are finalized by the Province and City of Calgary policies and bylaws have been updated, development applications will continue to be assessed according to existing regulations. The City will continue to share the best available flood risk information with development applicants and others, as we have since 2013.
The Government of Alberta is now seeking public input on the Flood Hazard Area maps, through to February 12th. Visit Bow and Elbow River flood study engagement | Alberta.ca or email epa.flood@gov.ab.ca for more information on the province’s public engagement process.
The City of Calgary’s Public Engagement on Land Use in Flood Zones: the Calgary River Valleys Project
As you are aware, we are conducting the Calgary River Valleys Project to provide guidance for decisions about how we plan, use, conserve and build in our river valleys, with a focus on coordinated and purposeful land use policies.
The Calgary River Valleys Project (CRVP) is launching public engagement January 29 to March 3, 2024. This is an opportunity for Calgarians to provide input on land use and development regulations in flood hazard areas. The project is working to update floodplain policies and regulations, which will be incorporated in Calgary’s Municipal Development (Calgary) Plan and Bow and Elbow River Hazard Study Update Notice – January 5, 2024 (alberta.ca) Land Use (Zoning) Bylaw. The updated draft flood hazard map is a vital resource for this work.
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*This is not true. Some areas (eg. Bowness) will not have 1:100 protection and others (eg. Sunnyside) will only be protected to 1:100 after project completion.
We wish to thank Minister Schulz, her staff and the AEPA Administration, as well as the City of Calgary’s Frank Frigo and his team, for their considerable time and thoughtfulness in engaging with CRCAG in this important concern, and for their accommodation. As we’ve experienced in the past, our elected representatives and government administration have constructively worked with us throughout. It is very much appreciated.
Onward,
Your CRCAG Board