Officials with the Alberta government say work crews are moving forward with a number of projects designed at flood mitigation along the Elbow and Highwood Rivers.
The update comes at about two months ahead of the anniversary of last year’s flooding.
Environment and Sustainable Resource Minister Robin Campbell addressed a gathering at the BMO Centre on Tuesday.
“Our government is committed to ensuring Albertans are protected as much as possible from future flood events while at the same time respecting taxpayers’ dollars. Moving forward with the projects and funding announced today is an important step toward reducing the impact of future floods on Alberta’s people, infrastructure, economy and environment.”
Campbell's speech was part of the Alberta Watershed Management Symposium.
The government says they have committed $600M over the next three years, with $325M for the Resilience and Mitigation Program designed to fund community-level projects.
Among the project highlights are:
- a floodwater storage site near Springbank Road west of Calgary
- a dry dam at the confluence of McLean Creek to protect Bragg Creek, Redwood Meadows, and Calgary
- a southern route for the Highwood River diversion to direct flood water around High River
- a feasibility study for an underground diversion from the Elbow River into the Bow River in Calgary
Officials say that in addition to these projects, the province has contributed over $200M to erosion control projects in Alberta's most flood-prone communities.
The conference covers everything from personal emergency preparedness to improvements to the province’s flood mapping and forecasting systems.
Earlier this month, the City of Calgary provided an update on municipal systems in place to protect against future flooding.
