Experts say a decade of flood mitigation measures helped Calgary avert disaster after a bout of intense rainfall several weeks ago, but warn that the city remains vulnerable to a larger storm system that could overwhelm existing infrastructure.
Francois Bouchart, director of the city’s water services, said that the city was able to quickly respond to the storm and mobilize its flood mitigation strategy due to upgrades to its forecasting systems. The provincial government also instated an agreement with TransAlta in 2016 to use of eight of the company’s hydroelectric reservoirs during storm surges to decrease water levels along the Bow and the Elbow. That agreement is in place until 2026, when it will be reviewed for renewal.
When finished, the reservoir will be able to hold the liquid equivalent of 30,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, and is considered a critical tool in Calgary’s strategy for preventing the type of flooding seen in 2013.Yet even with existing flood mitigation measures, Mr. Bouchart said that the city is at a 55 per cent state of preparedness for any flooding events, adding that SR1 will increase that number to 70 per cent when complete.
“We have so many more levers to pull, to be able to respond to a severe flood event, than we had previously,” she said. “It was nice to have a, a sort of test run, if you will, in a situation that that turned out to be serious, but not overwhelming.”
At least Calgary does something and is it really climate change? My house was floodplained due to over development upstream of me, not weather events. So paving over everything without proper mitigation. How is this even allowed?