Calgary City officials are monitoring weather patterns and melting snow at higher elevations to determine the city’s flood risk this year.
The 24-hour monitoring operation has been underway since early May and focuses on weather patterns and impacts on mountain spring runoff.
The city’s emergency management committee learned Tuesday that the alpine snow cover is 20 to 40 percent higher than this year’s average.
“We haven’t seen much of this melting yet, so the natural flow is almost at winter levels. It’s just below normal flow right now,” said Frank Frigo, leader in watershed analysis. the city of Calgary.
Read more: The city of Calgary is preparing for possible flooding this year
According to Frigo, the flow in the Bow River is currently between 80 and 90 cubic meters per second, while the normal flow for this time of year is about 150 cubic meters per second.
The story continues under the ad
Frigo said the conditions are favorable for the city’s reservoirs and water management, and that they give the services more time to respond to any change in level.
“What it does is give our reservoir operators, both Glenmore and TransAlta structures, more flexibility to understand that the merger will take place later in the season,” Frigo said.
“So the usual tension between lowering levels to having adequate space for flood mitigation versus having fuller reservoirs to ensure we have more water at the end of the season is a little more balanced.”
As a result, city officials are looking at the long-term forecast to determine the risk of flooding in Calgary this year.
1:58 Construction begins on Springbank Reservoir Project Construction begins on Springbank Reservoir Project – May 5, 2022
Calgary City River Engineering Team Leader Sandy Davis told the committee that the forecast looks dry and cool for the early summer months.
The story continues under the ad
“It simply came to our notice then. “We don’t see these heavy rains causing flooding in the Calgary River for more than three or five days,” Davis told the committee. a week before “.
Related news
-
Downtown Calgary flood mitigation barrier earns federal and provincial money
The Committee heard several presentations related to the flood risk of officials from the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), TransAlta, as well as the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
According to CEMA chief Sue Henry, four of the city’s 15 assessed disaster risks involve flooding in the Bow and Elbow rivers.
“We know that the risk of flooding is increasing due to climate change, while the risk of the dam is a stable risk thanks to the incredible controls and safety programs of the dams that exist,” Henry told the committee.
“When we talk about a flood of one every 100 years, that doesn’t mean that since we had this flood in 2013, we shouldn’t expect to see this level for 100 years. It means we have a 1% chance of reach this flood level in a given year “.
Since the devastating floods of 2013, several projects have mitigated the risk of flood damage in the city by 55 percent. This risk of damage is expected to be reduced by a total of 70 percent once the reservoir outside Springbank is complete by 2025.
Read more: $ 744 million contract awarded for Westbank Reservoir in West Calgary
The story continues under the ad
Henry said CEMA and partner agencies underwent a flood-related training exercise last week as information on how to respond to such an event in Calgary.
“We have learned a lot from 2013 and we continue to update our best practices and continue to lead the country in flood management,” Ward 11 Coun said. said Kourtney Penner. “I’m sure if we had another big flood, we’d be well prepared.”
The city administration said the province is updating the flood risk maps for the city, which should be completed by the end of the year and followed by public participation.
Related news
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.