Qyd
There are two major flood mitigation projects on the table for Calgary — the Glenmore diversion tunnel and the Springbank reservoir. Both projects have strong supporters including the provincial government which has the final say over whether they’ll be built but details of the true scope of the projects have generated little public interest so far.
Current plans for the Springbank “dry” reservoir involve building a six-kilometre diversion canal from the Elbow River to a 1400-acre reservoir that would be filled to 2.5 metres in depth in times of flood or possibly for long-term water storage. That project is expected to cost $200 million. It has been contested by Springbank residents particularly those united in the Don’t Damn Springbank group who say it will flood their land and destroy the area without protecting upstream communities from floods.
Premier Jim Prentice officially signed off on that project as well as a diversion channel from the Highwood River in High River on September 26.
The Glenmore diversion tunnel has received relatively superficial attention though it is a far bigger project in both cost and impact. The city of Calgary supports the tunnel but the provincial and federal governments have not yet indicated whether they will approve it or pay for it.
Details on the Glenmore tunnel were rather vague until the city released its feasibility study on the project in late August. So what exactly are we looking at?
The study conducted for the city by Hatch Mott MacDonald says the tunnel will sit 73 metres underground and stretch from the Glenmore Reservoir to the Bow River along either 58th Avenue or Heritage Drive. It will be between eight and 9.5 metres in diameter and accommodate a flow rate of up to 700 cubic metres per second.
The study recommends using a tunneling boring machine which could drill at a rate of 15 metres per day for nine straight months. Overall the project should take three years to complete if crews work 16 hours a day five days a week. It is expected to cost roughly $500 million to build the tunnel and $2 million annually to maintain it.
The tunnel and more broadly the topic of past and future floods are big issues in the ongoing byelection campaign in Calgary-Elbow which was among the hardest hit areas in the city following the flood.
Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark is currently running for MLA in the riding and has long promoted the tunnel.
“It’s ready to be built… and it should be built” says Clark. “Downtown Calgary simply cannot be allowed to flood again. It is the economic engine for Canada and the impact on the national economy on the economy of Alberta on the economy of Calgary would be enormous…. We have the technology we have the resources to do it all we need is the political will.”
Ward 11 Coun. Brian Pincott says the city is under no illusions regarding the scope of the project. However he says he has yet to hear opposition to it from city officials or his constituents. They would be the most directly affected by construction as the tunnel would bore directly under his ward.
“Digging up Heritage Drive and going down Heritage would have a significant impact during the construction. And we would have to look at how we mitigate that through the construction but we do that kind of thing all the time” says Pincott. He believes time is of the essence to build the tunnel and avoid future floods.
“I am definitely supportive of it; my constituents are they see this as a real mitigation for future flooding” says Pincott. “For people who live on the river they look at that and they go ‘yes we’ve got to do this.’ And I think more broadly within the city we recognize that this is something… that can very significantly reduce our economic and social impacts of flooding.”
“We are going to flood” he adds. “We’ve got to wrap our heads around climate change is not some sort of hypothetical thing in the future. It’s here now. You’ve got to look at the last year and a half; we’ve had three major weather events in Calgary.”
City of Calgary spokesperson Zarina Mackie says city administration is still waiting to hear back from the provincial government on whether the project will proceed to the preliminary design stage which would flesh out ideas on how the city is going to manage the enormous project.
During a September 26 press conference Prentice said he understands the public wants the government to move quickly on such mitigation efforts.
