WC130 MayJune2023 - Magazine - Page 36
POLICY
10 Years After the Flood
Striving for flood resiliency in Calgary
BY BEN ETHIER
NSURED LOSSES FOR WEATHER-RELATED disasters
in Canada totaled over $18 billion in the past decade, doubling
the total of the previous three decades. According to the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices, the costs of extreme weather
events – economic, social and environmental, are continuing to
rise. For Alberta, the 2013 Southern Alberta floods were some of
the costliest disasters in Canadian history.
The trend in extreme weather events underscores the need to
proactively adapt to and invest in climate risk reduction measures
to improve communities’ resilience to the impacts of climate
change. Shortly after the 2013 flood, The City of Calgary (The
City) formed an independent expert management panel on river
flood mitigation, including experts in engineering, planning, public policy, economics, environmental science and public administration to recommend opportunities that would reduce the risk of
future river flooding in Calgary. The panel identified the following
six theme areas to guide their recommendations:
Climate change
Watershed management
Event forecasting
Storage, diversion, protection
Infrastructure and property resilience
Managed flood risk
The reality is that climate change will likely influence river
flooding in Calgary. Increasing winter snow volumes, higher
spring temperatures, rain on snow events, and changes in seasonality can all trigger river flooding in Calgary. Flood season (historically May to July) may shift earlier, and there may be increasing
water levels or flood frequency. The flooding mechanisms within
the watershed are complex, and research is on-going to better
understand flood interactions and projections.
Ben Ethier
Ben is the Senior Water
Adaptation and Mitigation Specialist
with the Adaptation team.
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WATER C AN ADA • M AY/JUNE 2023
Working to reduce flood risks
Although river floods may last only a few days, the detrimental
impacts of a flood event on people and communities can remain
for months or years. In the short-term, floods can present significant danger to public safety and cause damage to homes, busiWAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
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