How Calgary has prepared for the next big flood in the 4 years since 2013's disaster

This story was originally published June 20, 2017.

Four years ago, Calgary and surrounding areas weredevastated by flooding.

The water spilled overthe banks of the city's two major rivers in June 2013, causing millionsin damage andthe death of a Calgary woman,Lorraine Gerlitz.

It was a dark day for the city, but Calgarians pulled on their gum boots and got to work on the recovery. The city got to work, tooand, with the help of both the federal and provincial governments, set about making a flood-resilient city.

Here's a look at what they've accomplished so far.

• Let us know your thoughts on the city's progresson flood protectionin the comments below

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After the flood, an expert panel came up with 27 recommendations for Calgary. The city says halfare complete and they areallunderway, even the more difficult ones like addressing the changing climate and adopting new design standards.

But if a flood like in 2013 rolled through Calgary tomorrow, there would still be an impact.

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"All the work that the city and province have done have reduced the risk by about 30 per cent," saidFrank Frigo, leader of watershed analysis with water resources for the City of Calgary.

"That's fairly significant. That represents approximate annual risk of around $52 million per year."

Without any mitigation in place, the city's damage assessment studyconducted after the floodfoundthe city would average $170 million a year in damage costs. That was brought down to $115 million each year with completed and underwayprojects, such asinstalling barriers and higher gates at the Glenmore Reservoir.

• Glenmore Dam pedestrian pathway to close this fall for $82M renovation

But there are big ticket items on the horizon.

For the Elbow River, the city is advocating for the Springbankdry dam project in combination with work at the Glenmore Reservoir. The province estimates the dry damwould cost $245 million and be ready for the 2021 flood season.

Solutions for upstream storage onthe Bow River are being drafted for the province, and will be submitted in a report later this year.

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"The big items upstream do also need to be put in place for Calgary to reach its goal of full flood resilience," saidFrigo.

Mitigation projects

So how much has it cost? Well, it's complicated.

The city says there was$400 millionin damages to the city's infrastructure alone. Butcosts have not been tallied for some projects still in the design phase.

Calgary received funding under the province's disaster recovery program, orflood recovery and erosion control program (FREC), for initial flood work188 projects' worth to repairdamage, which is different than flood resiliency work. The city says the disaster recovery program final reconciliation is not yet complete, but the current estimate is$52 millionin recoveries from FREC.

The provincecommitted $150 million for Calgary's flood resiliency program under the Alberta Community Resilience Program (ACRP) over 10 years. So far, more than$40million of the fundhas been spent.The remaining will be parsed out by $15 million each year. Per the program guidelines, the city has to put up its own funds: 90/10 (province/city) for the first $3million of a project and70/30 for every dollar above $3 million.

• 2017 approved grants
• 2016 approved grants
• 2015 approved grants

The provinceentered into a five-year agreement withTransAltain2016, at$5.5 million peryear, to help control the flow of the Bow Riverusing the Ghost Reservoir.

The city says the federal government has also supplied more than $10 million.

Flood work includes:

• Stabilizing riverbanks.
• Repairing sinkholes and removing debris from the river.
• Making pathways more floodresilient.
• Raising the Glenmore gates to doublecapacity by 2020. Estimated cost $80 million.
• Constructing a new berm for the Calgary Zoo, which is nearly done.
• Hardening, improving and raising bridges (five pedestrian bridges failed and others weredamaged).
• Constructing the Dean House flood wall to protect Inglewood.
• Bulking out emergency crisis services and river tracking.
• Improving the Roxboroand Sunnyside sanitary liftstationsand updating the BonnybrookWastewater Treatment Plantby 2022.

The future wishlistincludes:

• The Upper Plateau separation project, which will essentially separate theSunnysideand Hillhurst stormwater system from residents who live up the hill. Estimated cost: more than $37 million.
• Removal ofgravel bars. Estimated cost: up to $20 million, and not eligible for ACRP funding.
• Low-height barriers in Bowness, downtown, Sunnyside and Pearce Estates-Inglewood. Most of them are on city land, but 90 or more property owners could be affectedin Bowness. Estimatedcost: up to $75 million with a completion date of 2025.
• Better land use policiesand best practices for building in a flood plain are expected, likerestricting "sensitive uses" such asdaycares, assisted living, emergency services and even basement secondary suites. The city will look at buyingproperties to allow the river to flow unimpeded in areas, andhow basements in the floodway are constructedincluding materials used.

Flooding also wiped out park space throughout the city. Recovery work started with the most dangerous areas, and now the city is finishing up damaged areas that were more stable.

"We are in pretty good shape," saidAndrew King, project manager with Calgary Parks."We've covered off at least 95 per cent of the work that needed to be done to recover from the flood."

The city had to work in compliance with provincial and federal regulations, especially when working in the river between asmall window ofJuly 15 to Sept. 15so as not todisturb the fish.

"That's the thing that we had to pace ourselves, and that's why it's taken so long," said King."Four years later, we are obviously still working on flood recovery."

Banking on upstream storage

Areport prepared forcouncil in Aprilstated there were a "number of risks" remaining for Calgary's flood mitigation plans.

A new reservoir on the Bow River may not be built, and there arecontinued challengesfor the Springbank dry dam project.

Springbank dam opposition in 2014

7 years ago

Duration 2:08

Springbank-area residents react to plans about a dry dam west of Calgary that could protect the city's Elbow River from flooding.

Even with higher gates on theGlenmoredam, a significant flood risk remains without the upstream storage projects.

"Similar to the Elbow, without additional new storage on the Bow River, we would not be able get to the point where an event as large as 2013 would not cause significant impacts," saidFrigo.

"And so the city has worked with the province co-chairing something called the Bow River Working Group that's looked at opportunity fornew storage and basically looking at the possibility of new dams on the Bow."

The city also wantstheTransAlta agreement for flood control on the Ghost Reservoir to gopast 2021, but that's between the province andcompany.

The province is expecting to release new provincial flood hazard area maps this year. The city says right now it creates uncertainty for the city's potential flood policies.

Monitoring river 24/7 to give better warning times

Calgary has a steep, flashy, mountain-dominated basin so the city doesn't getmuch warning before a flood threat. Other areas, likeWinnipeg, haveup to 20 days warning to prepare and get sandbags in place.

In 2013, flooding began in Calgary on June 20 andthere were evacuations in place in low-lying areas later in the day.

If the same floodinghappened tomorrow, the city says it could provide better warning times.

Frigo says theTransAlta agreementhelps toreduce flooding,as well asprotection at the zoo, the Calgary Stampede grounds, Deane House andongoing work at West Eau Claire,but it "would continue to have impacts."

Heworks with the city'steam monitoring the river 24/7 in flood season, which runs May 15 to July 15. They often utilize the province's river monitoring tools, which includes a smarthphoneapp that residents can download.

He says there arehigh levels on the Bow River through Calgary because ofa quicksnow melt in the mountains, but itsnot expected to cause damage. The boating advisory issued earlier this month waslifted Tuesday afternoon.

Calgary has had some precipitation this year, butit was much heavier200 millimetresin the mountains and 345 millimetres near High River in thedays before the 2013flood.

Know your flood

The option of an incentive program for residential sump pumps and backflow valves wasbeing explored, but the city also wantscitizens to get educated on how floodingimpacts them.

• Flood rebuild almost done, visible and hidden scars remain in High River
• 'We feel like we've been forgotten': Foothills residents remain in limbo 4 years after devastating flood

They've posted flood maps on the city's website toshowwhat residents canexpect in five-year, 10-year, 20-year, 50-year and 100-year flood events.

Tony Morris istheco-president of the Calgary River Community Action Group, which has morphed into an advocacy group over the years. He saysCalgary has a lot of development in harm's way like downtownbut has seen two floods even bigger than in 2013.

Morris says it will happen again andwork is needed.

"This city was on its knees four years ago, and it had a profound impact to the economy and massive amounts of damages," he said.

"And in a sense we've been given an opportunity to ensure that we do things that protect the city from being in a similar place."

Many Calgarians didn't see the damage first-hand, he said,so wouldn't appreciate what an "existential event it was."

"After four years you would think there would be more substantive things and obvious protection, but these are larger projects so they require a process, and a lot of input and work. We do know that work is underway," said Morris.

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