A proposed barrier aimed at reducing flood risk in Bowness will not be built anytime soon, despite a positive technical study.
According to an internal City of Calgary memo, obtained by Global News, city administration is recommending that no decision be made by city council on the potential flood barrier at this time.
A decision on the flood mitigation was expected from city councillors at an upcoming meeting this month, nearly eight years after the flood of 2013 that devastated the community.
“We’re supposed to be learning from our lessons,” Ward 1 Councillor Ward Sutherland told Global News. “We got our lesson and a lot of people had terrible experiences and still deal with it now, and we have a solution.”
Technical studies conducted by the city indicate a barrier in Bowness would be cost-beneficial, the memo said, adding that previous projects had fewer impacts to private properties.
The proposed 1.9-kilometer berm would be divided over two sections to target lower-lying areas along the river in Bowness.
According to the city, 74 properties would be affected by the proposed barrier.
Thirty per cent of those homeowners were against the barrier, which could impact the cost of the project during future land easement negotiations, the memo read.
“It’s disappointing that some individuals are deciding not to participate, and affecting the entire community,” Sutherland said.
Community stakeholders were informed of administration’s recommendation on Monday night, including the Bowness Responsible Flood Mitigation Society (BRFM), which has been a vocal opponent of the flood barrier.
“We believe its a waste of taxpayers’ dollars,” BRFM president Jean Woeller said. “The real solution lies upstream with the province building additional capacity on the Bow River.”
The memo said 40 per cent of the affected homeowners wanted to know more about the level of mitigation from an upstream reservoir, and how a barrier would play into that mitigation before moving forward with the project.
“We admit that there is a risk of flooding, but the barrier isn’t going to help us with that,” Woeller said. “Council needs more information to make the right decision, and the right decision is to cancel the project.”
Sutherland said the barrier will work in conjunction with the upstream mitigation and an agreement with TransAlta to monitor and adjust river levels, in preventing a one-in-200-year flood.
According to Woeller, the between a one- and 1.5-metre berm wouldn’t protect the community from ground flooding or from water levels seen in 2013, which damaged many homes in the northwest neighbourhood.
“Upstream mitigation remains the most effective way to reduce flood risk on the Bow River,” the memo reads. “A barrier was proposed as an interim risk reduction to mitigate against smaller, more frequent flood events while the Government of Alberta considered upstream mitigation options.”
Its anticipated the province will complete the second phase of its study into options for a Bow River reservoir sometime in 2023, which would provide more clarity around the government’s commitment to building upstream mitigation.
However, the memo indicated that a finished reservoir on the Bow River would still take at least a decade.
A reassessment of the flood risk in Bowness, and the barrier’s feasibility and a re-engagement with the community. is expected after the province completes the second phase of their study.
“We hope that maybe with some upstream mitigation, that those individuals will change their minds,” Sutherland said.
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