Calgary better prepared for flooding, city tells residents at open house

The City of Calgary wants residents to know what steps government officials have been taking to get ready for the spring flood season, even as people bask in the summer-like sunshine and heat.

Officials held an information session for people in communities along the Bow River on Tuesday night.

River engineering lead Frank Frigo says in Calgary, flooding can happen very quickly. The riskiest period is May 15 to July 15.

"With the mountain catchments that we have, we have very rapid runoff response," he said.

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"We can turn from conditions like we have today when we're clear and dry to significant increases in water level and flow rate in both the Bow and the Elbow rivers in very short time frames."

Frigosays it's important for residents to keep in mind how quickly a flood situation can turn into an emergency, as it did during the disastrous floods three years ago. ButCalgary is now far better prepared, he says.

"Since 2013, significant strides have been made. A lot of repair work has been done, we've improved the condition of our river banks, we've improved the function of our storm and sanitary drainage systems,"Frigosaid.

The Alberta government is launching a new smart-phone app for iOS and Androids that is designed to give municipal leaders access to the most up-to-the-minute information during flood events, says EvanFriesenhan, the province's director of river engineering.

"Inrealtime,wecandrawonthatmapandshowmunicipalitiesinquestionwhatweseecoming, interms oftheweatherforecastandwhatwethinkisgoingtohappen," he said.

RobertNieuwesteeg,a board member of the Calgary River Communities Action Group, says while it's encouraging some mitigation projects are moving forward, his group has been somewhat excluded from the decision-making process.

"Ithinkwehavealittlebitmorestatusandalittlebitmorestandingthatweneedtohaveastrongervoice atthetable," he said.

"Allofit'sgood,butwe'rehereandwe'regoingtostayhereuntilwe'veseenthefollow-through commitmentdone.Whenthelastshovelisputdownandthelastbackhoeispulledofflocation,we've seenmitigationbuiltforbothrivers,we'llhopefullybeabletodisbandourgroupforagoodparty."

An information session for people in Elbow River communities will be heldThursday night at the Calgary First Church of the Nazarene on Richard Way S.W.

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