CALGARY- As Calgarians continue to cope with a frigid winter, there is already concern about what’s going to happen when all that snow melts.
On Monday, officials laid out plans to prevent a repeat of last year’s devastating flooding. One of the biggest projects is to repair six critical riverbank erosion sites.
“These are projects that are protecting the banks,” explains Gord Stewart, director of recovery operations. “The standard that we are building to is higher than existed before the event, so in a sense they are repair but they also are mitigation that will impact the ability to withstand future events of a similar magnitude.”
Engineers say the Bow and Elbow rivers have changed significantly since the flood, and they’re now trying to determine where the water will flow.
“We are working now to develop new computer models to help us with our emergency response planning, so we are pushing as fast as we can to get those models in place prior to May,” adds engineer Twyla Hutchison. “Those will be in place for us to respond to an event this year.”
Meantime, both the city and province are monitoring snowpack levels and river flows, to try and get an idea of what’s heading our way come spring. Officials say homeowners can also play a role in flood prevention.
The city’s management panel will provide council with recommendations in June that will include more mitigation projects for future consideration.
-With files from Carolyn Kury de Castillo
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