This release was issued under a previous government.

Flood recovery: Shoring the river bank at the Stampede grounds in Calgary

Shoring the river bank at the Calgary Stampede Grounds

The projects, funded in part through the province’s community flood remediation programs, address the specific concerns and needs identified by municipalities. To date, more than $200 million through the Flood Recovery Erosion Control program has been invested in communities across the province, including $52.1 million in Calgary.

“Calgary was hit hard in last June’s flooding and we need to make sure as many precautions as possible have been taken to prepare for the future. Calgarians can be assured that these projects will add a further level of protection for their communities, homes and places of business.”

Dave Hancock, Premier of Alberta

“Our flood mitigation programs were designed to be flexible to meet the needs in each community. In Calgary, this means focusing on reinforcing community level mitigation that will complement the larger projects happening upstream.”

Robin Campbell, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development

“Flood repair, mitigation, and preparation remain major priorities for the City of Calgary now and into the future. The City identified 50 projects addressing river flood erosion that would provide the most protection against potential flooding, while the provincial government builds the long-term upstream major flood mitigation projects that will further protect Calgary and southern Alberta. I look forward to working with Premier Hancock and his colleagues to identify those long-term projects that will be most effective.”

Naheed Nenshi, Mayor of the City of Calgary

In addition to community recovery and mitigation, the Government of Alberta is also taking steps on larger, structural flood mitigation projects including a Highwood Diversion, an off-stream storage site at Springbank, a dry dam at the confluence of McLean Creek and the Elbow River and upgrades to a number of dams and other water management structures. Feasibility studies on the diversion tunnel are ongoing.

More than $600 million has been committed to fund high-priority flood recovery and mitigation projects and to improve the province’s flood resiliency. This includes the new Alberta Community Resilience Program, which will provide $325 million to municipalities and First Nations and Métis Settlements across the province over the next three years for projects such as berms, dykes, and riverbank stabilization.

Under the Building Alberta Plan, our government is investing in families and communities, living within our means, and opening new markets for Alberta's resources to ensure we're able to fund the services Albertans told us matter most to them. We will continue to deliver the responsible change Albertans voted for.