In addition to yesterday’s announcement, we have more good news we’d like to share with you.
Last week, CRCAG brought together community leaders for an informational forum and to participate in the launch of a flood coalition in support of upstream mitigation projects including the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir Project (SR1).
We co-hosted the event on January 23 alongside Flood Free Calgary, who have been doing significant work to engage the business community and to highlight the economic risks of future flooding.
Specifically, community leaders were invited to learn what they can do to help strengthen our efforts in the lead up to the next general election this Spring.
We were thrilled to be joined by representatives from nearly a dozen impacted communities, representatives from Calgary City Council, and provincial election candidates (including the UCP).
Highlights from the forum
Brenda Leeds Binder, Co-President, CRCAG
- Presented opening remarks and highlighted a few of the recent challenges facing upstream mitigation projects. She also highlighted the risk the provincial election poses, especially considering we do not know where some candidates stand on SR1.
Paul Battistella, Spokesperson for Flood Free Calgary
- Reviewed the impacts the 2013 flood had on Calgary’s business community and the potential economic impact another flood could have on our downtown core (empty office towers, massive property tax shortfalls, lower GDP, less migration).
Frank Frigo, Leader of Watershed Analysis – City of Calgary
- Presented on mitigation projects planned and underway. He provided a comprehensive view of all mitigation projects and how much protection each piece contributes. This includes the Glenmore Reservoir improvements, local mitigation projects, and upstream projects such as SR1.
- He also addressed alternate projects that have been proposed, such as McLean Creek Reservoir (MC1), the Priddis Diversion, and Tri-Rivers Joint Reservoir (TRJR), and explained why they are not feasible.
- Handout – Elbow River flood mitigation alternatives evaluated
- Handout – Calgary’s Flood Resiliency Plan
- Slides – Calgary’s Flood Resilient Future
We urged all attendees to reach out directly to the election candidates in their ridings to ensure they are aware of how important this issue is to their constituents. (And you should too!)
Additionally, attendees were invited to band together as a coalition in support of critical mitigation infrastructure and were asked to sign a Declaration of Support as part of that commitment (although no time or financial commitment required).
Many attendes signed on the spot and the coalition continues to grow! Stay tuned for more updates on these efforts.
Additional resources provided at the forum:
- Flood Mitigation Options Assessment Summary
- Visualization of 2013 Simulated Flood with and without changes to TransAlta operations
- Visualization of 2013 Simulated Flood with and without SR1
- Flood Comparison Map 1897 vs 2013
If you have any questions about these materials or the flood coalition, please reach out to us at info@crcactiongroup.com.
Regards,
Your CRCAG Board