CALGARY – The provincial government has committed to two mitigation projects aimed at protecting Calgary and High River from future flooding.
On Friday, Premier Jim Prentice announced the Government of Alberta would be constructing a dry reservoir in the Springbank area west of Calgary to accommodate potential flood waters from the Elbow River.
In addition, they’ll be creating a south diversion of the Highwood River in High River.
Prentice said the projects will be completed as quickly as possible, but must first undergo both an environmental assessment and public consultation.
The Premier also committed to negotiating a long-term agreement with TransAlta to ensure the Ghost Reservoir, situated west of Cochrane along the Bow River, would be able to accommodate flood waters on the Bow River, further protecting the City of Calgary.
Prentice triples staffing to complete Disaster Recovery Program appeals
On Friday, Prentice also announced staff working on the Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) would be tripled to deal with outstanding appeals.
“Flood-affected Albertans want to move on and put this disaster behind them,” said Prentice.
“Increasing the number of appeals officers will significantly enhance our ability to respond to outstanding DRP applications to benefit those in need.”
More than 10,500 individual DRP applications have been made as a result of the June 2013 flooding.
To date, more than 8,000 have been closed, with the remainder still in progress.
There are 677 files currently in appeal. Of those, 120 files are from Calgary applicants and 338 are from High River applicants.
Prentice hopes to have the remaining appeals cleared by December of 2014.
Cabinet Public Safety Committee announced
Premier Prentice has also announced the establishment of a cabinet Public Safety Committee, chaired by the Minister of Municipal Affairs.
The committee will take over the long-term recovery responsibilities of the Southern Alberta Recovery Ministerial Taskforce until the 2013 flood recovery is complete.
The Alberta Emergency Management Agency will continue to be the coordinating agency for public safety and the Provincial Operations Centre will coordinate government response during emergencies and disasters.
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