CALGARY, ALTA. — Alberta officials announced two high-priority flood resiliency projects for Calgary totalling $15 million.
The projects will be a permanent flood barrier to shield the downtown area and a stormwater separation project to protect the city’s Sunnyside-Hillhurst neighbourhood.
The projects will be paid for by $150 million in dedicated funding to Calgary through the Alberta Community Resilience Program. The government aims to invest more than $43 million for 15 flood mitigation projects across the province this year.
These projects will include the Horsefly Spillway Project in the Municipal District of Taber. The 14-kilometre spillway will extend from the St. Mary River Irrigation District main canal to the Oldman River, increasing flood attenuation capacity in the region.
“Protecting Calgary’s downtown and the communities that were hit hard during the 2013 flood is absolutely critical,” said Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi in a press release. “The Upper Plateau project will prevent Sunnyside from being the catch basin for drainage, while the concrete wall on the south bank of the Bow River will better protect our downtown core. This commitment is a step forward to becoming a stronger, more resilient city.”
The downtown flood barrier will stretch from the recently finished West Eau Claire flood barrier to Reconciliation Bridge to buffer the downtown area against high flows on the Bow River. The separation of the Upper Plateau stormwater system from the community of Sunnyside-Hillhurst aims to mitigate the risk of flooding and backflow into the area during heavy precipitation. Both projects are in the preliminary design stage.
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