With both good news and bad news, the release of Budget 2020 has brought clarity to a few of our flood mitigation funding concerns.
Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir (SR1)
GOOD NEWS: The project remains fully funded to $432 million.
The total capital plan funding for province-wide flood projects remains at $386 million, for the next four years, which is essentially the previous budgeted capital expenditure number less the almost $50 million spent to date on SR1.
Since regulatory delays have pushed the construction of SR1 further into the future, the published three-year capital plan does not reflect the bulk of the budgeted funds (that will be used for construction), however, we have been assured the funds are in place.
What is shown, however, are the necessary funds to continue the regulatory, design, and land acquisition work happening now.
Also, remember that the federal government has committed $168 million toward funding SR1.
Bow River upstream mitigation
GOOD NEWS: Funding is approved for the phase 2 feasibility study.
The final report on the conceptual assessment to identify the three most promising options for new upstream flood mitigation on the Bow River is expected to be published in April.
Budget 2020 sees $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.
Given this green light, AEP has begun planning for the study and will issue an RFP for the work shortly. Hopefully, this means that the Bow Basin Water Management Options project will be able to continue forward with little delay.
Local mitigation
BAD NEWS: Alberta Community Resilience Program (ACRP) funding remains slashed.
Following Budget 2019, we reported that the ACRP funding allocation for Calgary had seen a serious reduction from $150 million to $69 million.
- You can find more details about how this reduction will impact many of the local area projects the City had planned here: Budget concerns for flood mitigation projects—your input is needed
In response to the call to provide feedback to help shape and inform Budget 2020, CRCAG penned a letter urging the province to reinstate the ACRP funding fully.
However, within the total $20.5 million budgeted for 2020-21 (the final year of the program), the $10 million allocation for Calgary remains unchanged from the Budget 2019 reduction.
The remaining ARCP funding will contribute to two projects: the Downtown Flood Barrier and the Upper Plateau Separation Project.
TransAlta agreement for Ghost Reservoir
GOOD NEWS: Negotiations to renew the agreement have begun.
The agreement expires in early 2021 so there was no need to include funding in Budget 2020.
If you have any questions or comments on these updates, please reach out to us at info@crcactiongroup.com.
Regards,
Your CRCAG Board