For our Bow River members, we continue to hear your concerns about wanting to know what has been going on with respect to the Bow. Read through the most recent updates below and there will be more information to come this summer. Bow River Reservoir Options feasibility study underway The phase one conceptual assessment completed in March 2020, with the consultant’s (Wood Canada Limited) submission of the main report. Throughout […]

In April 2021, the Alberta government extended its Modified Operations Agreement with TransAlta for another 5-year term. Originally signed in 2014 and extended for 5-years in 2016, the agreement allows the government to modify operations at several TransAlta facilities to help protect communities along the Bow River against the impacts of both floods and drought. About Ghost Reservoir and FAQ 2014 TransAlta press release “TransAlta and Province Reach Agreement on […]

Earlier this month we shared information on the recently released draft flood inundation maps for Alberta. The province has solicited public feedback on the maps and the deadline is this FRIDAY, January 15. Remember, the draft maps are inundation maps NOT flood hazard maps — hazard maps are likely to come sometime next year. The draft maps can be viewed easily in the Flood Awareness Map Application: https://floods.alberta.ca/?app_code=FI&mapType=Draft. You do not […]

Alberta Environment and Parks has released draft flood inundation maps and reports and public feedback is being accepted until January 15, 2021. Although it is the the Bow and Elbow River and Upper Bow River flood studies we are most interested in, the public engagement is part of a larger initiative for 18 new flood studies, covering over 1,500 kilometres of river through more than 60 municipalities and First Nations. It is important to note that […]

Our 2020 Annual General Meeting took place on the evening of Tuesday, December 15, 2020. Following association business, speakers from the province and city brought us up to speed on the status of upstream and local mitigation efforts, as well as flood mapping and regulation. Throughout the meeting we shared links to resources, all of which are available at the bottom of this email along with speakers’ slides. You can […]

Our 2020 virtual Annual General Meeting is tonight! You will need to register in order to receive meeting access. Don’t miss your chance to hear live from Mayor Nenshi, Ministers Ric McIver and Doug Schweitzer and expert speakers about what is being done to protect you and your community. Date: Tuesday, December 15Time: Meeting 6:30 to 8:15 p.m.Location: Zoom webinar – register here Documents for review: 2019 AGM minutes (will […]

The report for the Phase 1 conceptual assessment for the Bow River Reservoir Options (BRRO) project has now been released. The Phase 1 report can be found here. The link will take you to a page containing further links to the main body and all the appendices of the report. The report includes: technical information about the reservoir design descriptions of the criteria used to evaluate options environmental considerations for […]

With both good news and bad news, the release of Budget 2020 has brought clarity to a few of our flood mitigation funding concerns. Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir (SR1) GOOD NEWS: The project remains fully funded to $432 million. The total capital plan funding for province-wide flood projects remains at $386 million, for the next four years, which is essentially the previous budgeted capital expenditure number less the almost $50 million […]

With 2019 behind us, we’ve compiled a quick recap of what the year brought and a preview of what to anticipate in 2020. 2019 recap Provincial election In the lead-up to the provincial election in April, we surveyed each party on key flood mitigation issues and put pressure on those who had not yet declared publically their commitment to SR1. Related to these efforts, in January we formed a coalition […]

As part of the Bow Basin Water Management Options (BBWMO) project, Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) has spent the past year working through the conceptual assessment of 10 upstream reservoir options. In September, AEP announced the three shortlisted reservoir options, hosted public information sessions, and solicited public feedback. The final report on the first phase – the conceptual assessment – of the BBWMO project is expected in Q1 2020. Phase 2 […]