Calgarians voice their opinion in support of Springbank Project
We are fast approaching the June 15 deadline for public comments on the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir Project environmental assessment.
To those who have already written into the CEAA with your opinions: thank-you! We appreciate your strong words and commitment to this important cause.
We’ve compiled a few of the submissions that were shared with us; a few quotes are included below and you can read the full letters at the bottom.
If you haven’t written in yet hopefully these letters inspire you to do so.
You can submit your comments on the Springbank Project to the CEAA via email or post: protectcalgary.com/ceaa-form/ (it will only take a few moments).
“Our concerns [include] the ongoing process of study after study … that appear to have no finality to them.”
“I have lived and worked in Winnipeg, and still remember the fierce opposition to Duff’s Ditch – which in the end proved to be the best solution to permanent flood mitigation for Winnipeg. Just like the Springbank project would be for Calgary.”
“[T]he fact that experts from all three levels of government have recommended that the project proceed expeditiously confirms that this project is the best hope we have for mitigating a recurrence of devastating floods on the Elbow River.”
“Can we really afford another five billion dollars in property damage?”
Thanks again for your effort, everyone. Keep up the good work!
Regards,
Your CRCAG Board
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I am a resident of Inglewood, and many of us here live in the flood fringe zone.
Parts of Inglewood were badly damaged during the last flood—in East Inglewood a whole road was washed away and has had to be rebuilt at considerable expense to the City. With the new flood mitigation measures taken for the zoo on the North side, we are no longer sure about future river flood patterns on the South bank. We are in a new home and have, at extra expense, already built to the 100 year flood standards set out by the City.
However, we are all well aware of the potential dangers of a new version of 2013, which could entail untold costs and dislocation for so many citizens, and for the entire city. My wife and I are therefore in full support of the position and views set out in the CRCAG letter sent to your organization.
Of course there is a downside to any measures of this scale, and we should try to be as environmentally sensitive as possible. But the choices are clear, and Calgary’s needs have to be paramount. For anyone who experienced the 2013 flood as we did (we were living close to the Stampede grounds) appropriate measures need to be taken as soon as possible.
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Without the effective upstream flood mitigation provided by the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir Project the City of Calgary is exposed to the continued threat of flooding. This is for a city that is the economic engine of the province and through its citizens and the companies headquartered here a significant contributor to the Canadian economy.
Please note that I have been part of an expropriation. If you look for my old address, you will not find it. The city took it from our family to widen Glenmore Trail.
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One might wonder why I have not written earlier to you expressing my strongest endorsement for this project.
Perhaps it is because I am SO weary of writing letters about this.
Perhaps it is because we were flooded out in 2013; out of our home for 8 ½ months; relied on family and total strangers for help; repaired an old 84 yr-old-house; dealt with insurance agents, government officials, the police, other city and provincial workers; and became exhausted.
Perhaps it is because my husband and I are in our 70s, had lived in that house for almost 50 years without a drop of water in the basement prior to 2013 (the family for over 75 years!) and can’t believe the bureaucracy associated with constructing this dam that will protect downtown Calgary, built a century ago on the confluence of two rivers.
Perhaps it is because we don’t understand why this assessment is needed at all: two provincial governments have approved it, the provincial environmental assessment report has given it the go-ahead, and international experts have studied various options and have concluded it is the best option.
Perhaps it is because I can’t fathom a CEAA mechanism that has 365 days to respond to us but that is able to stop the clock periodically.
The handful of nay-sayers to this project are holding the City of Calgary hostage both in time and space. This dam was suggested as the best option within 90 days of the 2013 flood by water experts. Yet, here we are five years later, with no dam in sight, projected to be completed by 2022 at the earliest – thanks in part to the vocal opposition. In any other world, with all the affirmative studies, by now the land would have been expropriated and the project well underway.
If there is any way for you to expedite this lengthy, drawn-out process, it would be SO
appreciated by those of us most affected by the devastation of 2013. It must not happen again. The City of Calgary needs to get out from under this cloud and we need to get on with our lives.
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It is raining in Calgary today … not heavily, but raining. The skies are gray and, as I look out my second-floor window of my home in Erlton, I can see the river flowing healthily. Such tranquility is one of the alluring aspects of living along the Elbow river…
Unfortunately, while no threat of flooding is evident, the joys of observing the river flowing past our neighborhood have long been replaced with concerns that what appears such a tranquil setting at the moment may well turn into the nightmarish experience we endured in 2013, as the river changed from tranquil to fearsome.
It has been five years since the flood. Five years since so many in Alberta, and indirectly in other parts of Canada, were so devastatingly affected by the flooding that occurred. Yet today, we have no reason to feel any more reassured that we will never again be victimized by a flood of equal measurement as we were five years ago.
Our concerns are not only justified by the lack of construction of appropriate infrastructures to protect against rising waters, but of even greater impact, is the ongoing process of study after study (required of course for many reasons) that appear to have no finality to them.
The objections over the past two years, of literally a handful of individuals who would face displacement, continue to interfere in providing a safe environment for all Albertans and our economy. Might I add, consider the inconveniences they would share, given the enormous and exaggerated compensation they would receive is exponentially greater than what any individual or business received on a comparative basis from losses incurred during the flood.
What is most disturbing perhaps, is that it is too great of a coincidence that the process of arriving at and implementing the most effective means to prevent a repeat of the damages and destruction experienced during the 2013 flood, is to demand more and more studies, public hearings, revisits of already approved plans, new plans. What’s more is that this process is, coincidentally, occurring as more and more objections are heard from literally a handful of objectors.
Clearly, the costs that continue to be applied to non-stop studies could have been much better allocated to the commencement of construction toward mitigation solutions; particularly after initial studies showed without question that SR1 was and remains the most viable and timely solution.
We love our rivers, and the tranquility they bring to life in Calgary. We request that your organization complete whatever tasks are required in the most expedient fashion and provide your recommendations to the powers-to-be (who apparently have funds to commence construction) to move as quickly as possible to create a safer environment for all Albertans, for those who have supported SR1 from the first study and still do today.
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As a citizen of Alberta – and of Elbow Park – I am begging your agency to do anything you can to move the construction of the Springbank Off-stream Reservoir forward.
My wife and I have attended every meeting, read every report, viewed every document and reviewed everything both for and against. We honestly cannot see the strength nor the validity in any of the arguments opposed; this project offers so little negative vs. so much positive return that it seems like it should be a slam-dunk.
Every spring my wife and I become paralyzed with fear that we will be inundated again. The stress is awful.
We are still paying for the flood, and still have about four years left on our line of credit to again be free and clear. My wife had to delay her retirement by several years … all because of the flood.
We really cannot move, because the house – having been flooded – has lost so much of its value. We love (what’s left of) our neighbourhood, our neighbours, everything … everything except our proximity to the river that flows without any proper controls.
I have lived and worked in Winnipeg, and still remember the fierce opposition to Duff’s Ditch – which in the end proved to be the best solution to permanent flood mitigation for Winnipeg. Just like the Springbank project would be for Calgary.
We need this mitigation to take place. Everyone we know says they want it to take place. Everyone, that is, except for a very vocal few, and more recently, the Tsuut’ina.
If there are genuine concerns being expressed, please take them seriously, deal with them, and move us forward. If these they are not genuine concerns, deal with them as such, and move us forward.
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I live in Calgary, in Rideau Park, an inner city community along the Elbow River. We were severely impacted by the 2013 Flood. I understand the importance of protecting Calgary and Calgary homeowners. This is not just an issue for the “rich people who own property along the Elbow” as many like to point out. There are many retired couples, single income families who live here who bought their properties before it became fashionable to live inner city. This is about protecting lives, corporate downtown offices, Saddledome, the Zoo, City Hall, parks, bridges, schools, small and big businesses.
The fact that we are even considering an Olympic bid, prior to addressing and implementing flood protection is beyond irresponsible.
We are now on our fourth Premier since the flood, all of who promised to proceed with Springbank. However, five years later, still no shovels in the ground, and too many to count environmental studies.
What I am looking for is action not words. The pipeline and the Springbank damn seem to fall in to the same category, much talk and no action. Every level of government continues to say they support the project; every independent study points to this being the best alternative, yet no action.
We are now facing above record snowpack in the mountains, and we should all be very concerned. There were five deaths related to the flood, people still suffer from emotional distress every spring, yet here we are, once again, waiting for action. Can we really afford another five billion dollars in property damage?
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I am a Calgary resident and wish to provide you with my perspective on the imperative need to complete this project and provide essential flood protection to the City of Calgary.
First, the need is paramount. The damage caused by the 2013 flood threatened the viability of downtown Calgary, caused billions of dollars of damage and resulted in the financial ruin of many, many residents. Many of those residents, like me, were able, barely, to restore our homes at a huge cost but will be unable to withstand a second loss.
Contrast these risks to the need to have the existing Springbank land remain as is. There can be no honest debate on the relative merits of flood protection over maintaining the status quo.
Second, time is important. Every year that goes by without protection brings another “roll of the dice” over the danger of another overpowering flood. This has been recognized by the Alberta government. At a public information session about a year after the flood, a government representative told me the government aimed to have flood mitigation in place as soon as practically possible. I believe that was in 2014 and he promised me the work would be completed in time to protect against a 2018 flood. That time has come and passed (or will pass in another week or two) and no construction has been started, much less finished.
One does not wish to be unfairly critical but this situation seems to perfectly reflect Canada’s inability to get important infrastructure projects done. The need is obvious, the danger is great, the balance of interests is clear and nothing (that is, nothing) happens. In the meantime, the anxiety of Calgary and its residents continues.
Please bring some common sense to this long, dangerous delay and do what is possible to move this project forward.
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Resident letter to CEAA re Springbank Project
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Resident letter to CEAA re Springbank Project
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Beltline Neighbourhoods Association letter to CEAA re Springbank Project
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Resident letter to CEAA re Springbank Project
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I am writing in response to the invitation for public comment on the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir Project.
I have followed the progress of this project as it has moved slowly through the regulatory process and I am convinced that this project would be by far the best method of providing relief to the City of Calgary and to residents downstream of the Elbow River from the impact of a flood of the magnitude of either the 2005 or 2013 floods.
While I do not pretend to be an expert on the environmental aspects of the project, what I have seen and read convinces me that objective experts are satisfied that this project can be carried out with minimal environmental risks and is the best solution of all alternative projects. Moreover, the fact that experts from all three levels of government have recommended that the project proceed expeditiously confirms that this project is the best hope we have for mitigating a recurrence of devastating floods on the Elbow River.
I understand the need to undertake a thorough review of the project and to ameliorate as much as possible local concerns; however, I would urge you to move quickly possible since every year of further delay adds to the likelihood of another major flood.