Flood plan needs action

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Flood plan needs action

$300M required to avert repeat of 2005 disaster

Renata D'Aliesio, Calgary Herald

Published: Monday, = April 16,=20 2007

More than $300 million is needed to address Alberta's flood risks, = including=20 an inadequate warning system for roughly half of the communities facing = danger=20 when rivers and creeks overflow.

The estimate is triple the figure presented in a 2002 provincewide = flood plan=20 that was never fully acted upon, government documents obtained through=20 access-to-information legislation show.

Recommendations from the plan served as the foundation for a = government=20 committee created in response to the floods of 2005, which caused = widespread=20 damage in southern Alberta and claimed four lives.

Eastbound Glenmore Trail flooded last June = following a=20 sudden storm.

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The committee was asked to identify ways to reduce future flood = damage and=20 bolster public safety, but its work was halted because of the provincial = leadership race.

That changed recently, however, and a new flood blueprint for Alberta = is=20 being finalized, said the former committee chairman, Agriculture and = Food=20 Minister George Groeneveld, whose Highwood constituency south of Calgary = includes several flood-prone communities.

Groeneveld has urged action with his fellow ministers in Municipal = Affairs,=20 Environment and Infrastructure.

"My concern is to get the thing back on track because it was very = close to=20 wrapped up," he said. "My promise when I went out there (for the = committee) was=20 that this wasn't going to be a report that sat on the shelf and gathered = dust.

"I certainly hope I don't have to eat my words on that."

The province's 2002 report, called Flood Risk Management Action Plan = for=20 Alberta, has never been released publicly.

A copy obtained by the Herald reveals the flood plan resulted from = four years=20 of work by a previous government committee, set up in 1998 after = flooding in=20 southern Alberta affected thousands of residents and caused extensive=20 destruction three years earlier.

"It could have happened anywhere and it will happen again," the = report=20 stated. Implementation of the proposed plan, it added, would decrease = the cost=20 of damages to individuals, communities and small businesses, and = increase safety=20 during flooding.

The floods of 2005, which struck southern Alberta in three waves, = became the=20 most costly natural disaster in the provincial government's history.

Never had so many rivers and creeks raged so forcefully. Nearly 50=20 communities in southern Alberta were swamped and damaged. In the = hardest-hit=20 municipalities, such as Calgary, Okotoks, High River and Sundre, = thousands of=20 residents were evacuated and a state of emergency was declared.

The Alberta government is still tallying the cost of the disaster.=20 Reconstruction and payments are expected to continue for another three = or four=20 years, said Tracy Balash, a spokeswoman for Alberta Municipal Affairs = and=20 Housing.

The province has set aside $162 million for non-insurable damage, = expecting=20 to recover 90 per cent of the price tag from the federal government. = Insurable=20 losses such as damage to cars and basements wrecked by sewage cost = another $300=20 million.

Out-of-pocket expenses for individuals and businesses were numerous, = with one=20 government estimate pegging them around $40 million.

"Flood damages are skyrocketing," said Slobodan Simonovic, a civil = and=20 environmental engineering professor at the University of Western Ontario = and a=20 director with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction.

"I strongly advocate investing in mitigation. It pays back many, many = times=20 compared with paying the bill after the disaster occurs."

Simonovic was part of a group of researchers that completed a study = of=20 flood-risk management in Canada in 2003. While the country was once seen = as a=20 leader in tackling flood issues, the study found the federal government=20 drastically cut funding for flood prevention nearly a decade ago.

Since then, a "parade of passing the buck" has emerged, Simonovic = said.

Governments usually promise great changes during a disaster, but = motivation=20 to act recedes as time passes, the flood-mitigation expert has = observed.

Groeneveld is aware the clock is ticking on the Alberta government's = second=20 attempt in less than a decade to fully adopt a flood plan.

"I've been warned when I was on the committee that one year after the = flood,=20 people are pretty conscious of what's going on," he said.

"From then out, people tend to forget pretty quickly, and so it's = hard to get=20 bureaucrats or elected officials really excited again. But things are = changing a=20 little bit, and we're having more problems all the time."

Climate change projections for Alberta forecast an increase in = extreme=20 weather events, including more frequent flooding. At the moment, several = communities in the province's north are on high alert for rising = water.

Once the new flood blueprint is complete, Groeneveld said the = province would=20 take its proposals to the federal government. Alberta is seeking a = funding=20 formula that would see flood-prevention measures divvied among Ottawa, = the=20 province and municipalities.

Some of the draft recommendations presented in meetings with roughly = 70=20 municipalities last year would run into hundreds of millions of = dollars.

For instance, expanding Alberta Environment's flood forecasting = network to=20 provide an appropriate level of warning to all communities exposed to = flood=20 risks is estimated to cost $2.4 million plus an additional $1.15 million = a year=20 to operate the enhanced network.

Building floodways -- permanent channels for diverting water away = from a city=20 or town -- or buying land and removing buildings inappropriately built = near=20 rivers could cost $300 million.

rdaliesio@theherald.canwest.com

=C2=A9 The Calgary Herald 2007

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Flood plan needs action

$300M required to avert repeat of 2005 disaster

Renata D'Aliesio, Calgary Herald

Eastbound Glenmore Trail flooded last June = following a=20 sudden storm.

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=C2=A9 The Calgary Herald 2007

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