Federal gov't announces $168.5 million funding for Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir (SR1)

Federal gov’t announces $168.5 million funding for Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir (SR1)

March 13, 2019 by CRC Action Group in News

The federal government announced today that the Federal Treasury Board has approved $168.5 million to help fund the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir Project (SR1).

This is huge news. Coupled with the recent announcement of significant land acquisitions for the project, it seems inconceivable it will not be supported by political parties of all stripes. If only we had that certainty.

Minister Mason speaks at the federal announcement of $168.5 million in funding for the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir.

The funding will be provided by Infrastructure Canada’s Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, a national merit-based program established to support large-scale infrastructure projects to help communities better manage the risks of disasters triggered by natural hazards.

The project is projected to cost $432 million, according to the most recent estimate in August 2017, some of which can be recouped by the sale of purchased lands not directly within the footprint of the project. Prior to this announcement, $432 million dollars was specifically allocated to SR1 in the provincial budget.

Recent developments

We’ve seen two monumental announcements recently; first, the Robinson family’s agreement to sell their land to the province, and now this news of federal funding for nearly 40% of the overall cost of SR1.

These developments, in combination with the volumes of expert study that has proven SR1 to be the right project and the amount of time and resources invested in the project to date, should sway fence-sitters to get behind this project.

Let’s make it clear. Following the provincial election, any incoming government will not have the luxury of “waiting to see how the regulatory process plays out” before making a decision on the project.

There are multiple streams of work happening concurrently that require civil servants to have the active direction to either continue or to halt this work; this includes project design and engineering, land negotiations, and the regulatory work itself (including public and stakeholder consultation).

Any hesitation by an incoming Minister of Transportation translates directly into delay for this project

Regulatory update

In our last update, we were hopeful that the province would complete their response to CEAA’s information requests before Christmas. This did not happen.

It is our understanding that about 75% of the questions have been answered but that the few remaining are in-depth and involve additional stakeholder engagement; a process that cannot be rushed.

How will the election impact this process?

Reality is, the responses to CEAA will likely be going in post-election. And post-election, the incoming provincial Minister of Transportation will need to be fully briefed on the SR1 file before they can approve submission of the CEAA responses.

Every day of delay means a delay on the project.

Remember in 2015, when the NDP came into power, the election hibernation period coupled with the NDP’s incoming transition period caused a 6+ month delay to the SR1 project. We do NOT want to see this again.

Contact your election candidates and let them know this is a priority to you!

Project timeline

Once the project is given regulatory approval, the construction timeline will remain the same; two years to partially ready and three years to fully ready. However, there are a number of hurdles to clear before we’ll have shovels in the ground:

complete response to Parts 1, 2, 3 of CEAA information requests, as well as all NRCB and AEP questions that have been submitted
potential for more information requests and subsequent responses
NRCB hearings (originally scheduled for June 2019 but likely to be bumped)
land acquisitions and/or expropriations
provincial cabinet approval of project

The most recent SR1 timeline projected full completion in late 2022. This is likely to be delayed but the province is reluctant to give a revised projection at this time.

Updated SR1 schedule – May 2018

You can read the official news release here: Protecting southern Alberta from future flooding and we will curate media coverage of this story on our blog here.

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