Highlights from meeting with Alberta Transportation   Last week, members of your CRCAG Team met with Minister Brian Mason, his Deputy Minister, and his Chief of Staff. We covered many topics, the highlights of which are:   While it was a virtual certainty that the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency would wish to receive further information from the Transportation Ministry (as proponent of the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir Project), the number of questions […]

Interesting read in the Calgary Herald this week about the latest ploy to derail the critical public safety infrastructure project known as the Springbank Off-stream Reservoir.  The Springbank project has garnered much attention in the media since it was first announced over three years ago – largely because it will require the purchase of private land in order to build a cost-effective, safe and hugely important piece of flood mitigation to finally protect the […]

Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency outlines deficiencies in Environmental Impact Statement, additional information requested   One of the risks to the Springbank Project never being built is that delays in the environmental regulatory process will slowly kill the project over time. This week, we received word of one such delay.   In a letter addressed to Alberta Transportation (the Springbank Project proponent), the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) outlined 24 areas where […]

If the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir is a Provincial project, then what is the City’s role?   The City of Calgary has publicly backed the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir (SR1), recognizing it is critical to building flood resiliency for the city, and for ensuring flood mitigation on the Elbow River.   That said, since SR1 will be located outside of the City’s jurisdiction, the location, design, and construction of the reservoir is the […]

Now that the EIA has been submitted to the provincial Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB), and the federal Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) for initial review, the documents have been made public.   To keep you as up-to-date as possible, we’ve compiled the essential links and documents here:   SR1 schedule – project timeline and milestones SR1 EIA technical briefing – overview of the project, as presented to stakeholders at the October […]

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been submitted to regulators, review and hearings to follow   Today several members of your CRCAG Team, along with representatives from other key stakeholders, including the City of Calgary, Calgary Zoo, and Calgary Economic Development, were provided with a summary overview of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir Project.   The EIA has now been submitted to the environmental regulators, the […]

Let’s not regret not getting it built   Why we can’t afford not to build the Springbank Off-stream Reservoir   Finally an article about the Springbank Off-stream Reservoir project published in the Calgary Herald that tells it like it is.  Click here to read an interesting, insightful and factually accurate article written by well respected Herald columnist, Deborah Yedlin.

Deadline for open house feedback forms closes next Thursday   Didn’t get a chance to attend one of the four Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir Project open houses? Don’t worry, there’s still time to have your feedback considered.   At each of the open houses, attendees were invited to fill out a brief questionnaire form. The data collected from these forms will be used in preparing the Environmental Impact Assessment that will be […]

Estimated cost for Springbank Project now $432M, Province begins implementing protections for Bow River basin   On August 11, the Government of Alberta published a news release that provided updates on the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir project and that outlined possible options for the Bow River basin.   Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir   The Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir project cost is now estimated at $432 million, up from the most recent estimate of $263 million.   The […]

This week our thoughts are with everyone in the US Gulf Coast. The amount of devastation Hurricane Harvey has brought is heartbreaking, and we know all too well that there will be a very long and hard road ahead for those affected by the storm.   To put in in perspective, in June 2013 over 200 mm of rain fell over southern Alberta in less than two days. Hurricane Harvey […]