With flood season upon us, there is no shortage of media coverage on the issue of flood mitigation and, as usual, some of it is troubling.
Last week, the Calgary Herald published an opinion article This is Ric McIver’s second shot at building the Springbank dam; good luck to him by Don Braid that highlighted MLA Banff-Kananaskis Miranda Rosin’s controversial stance on the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir Project (SR1).
“We need to protect Albertans from future flooding, but we should not protect only a few at the expense and detriment of the others … We must ensure that all Albertans in affected flood areas are safe from harm.”
In reality, the 80,000+ Calgarians who were evacuated during the 2013 flood and the communities impacted downstream are certainly not “a few” and communities upstream of the planned SR1 site are indeed being protected (more on that below).
Although we are encouraged by the UCP’s statement in support of SR1 and the recent appointment of expert regulatory lawyer Martin Ignasiuk to help expedite the environmental review process, CRCAG has reached out to the newly appointed Minister of Transportation Ric McIver urging him to move swiftly on the SR1 file.
“We are writing you directly in response to media reports that cite vocal opposition from members of the UCP Caucus, the Tsuu t’ina Nation and the Springbank Community Association, to ensure that you are aware of our position on key issues covering flood mitigation and the protection of lives, livelihoods and property from the next inevitable devastating flood.
The opposition to the Springbank Project is relatively small but well-funded, and has received disproportionate media attention compared to the hundreds of thousands of people downstream who would be directly affected by the next flood.
This opposition has certainly resulted in Calgary and southern Alberta remaining at significant flood risk for much longer than first anticipated when the Springbank Project was first selected as the optimal first mitigation project, with its in-service date originally anticipated to be 2018.”
Read the full letter here.
What’s being done to protect Bragg Creek and Redwood Meadows?
It is important to remember that upstream communities are not being forgotten. In 2016, the provincial government committed provincial funds for flood mitigation projects in Redwood Meadows and Bragg Creek.
A combination of berms and retaining walls have been planned that will provided 1:100 year flood protection for these upstream communities.
The project is going through its own incredible amount of work and opposition, but is progressing.
We’ve summarized key information on the Bragg Creek Flood Mitigation Project and curated related links in our post here: Flood protection for Bragg Creek and Redwood Meadows
To keep up with flood season coverage, we’ve compiled a media roundup and you can stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter accounts. You can keep up with flood-related events happening throughout the city in our blog post curating events here.
If you have any questions or comments for us, please reach out at info@crcactiongroup.com.
Regards,
Your CRCAG Board