Calgary gives update on flood plan as big snowpack and anniversary looms

With more snow in the mountains this year, temperatures rising and flooding in other parts of Alberta, the city wants to update residents on its flood forecast as well as its flood readiness and flood management strategy.

It's been almost five years since floodwaters spilled the banks of the Bow and Elbow rivers

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Southern Alberta, including Calgary, was hit with massive flooding in June 2013. (Andy Clark/Reuters)

It's been almost five years since floodwaters spilled the banks of the Bow and Elbow rivers, flooding downtown and surrounding areas. 

With more snow in the mountains this year, temperatures rising and flooding in other parts of Alberta, the city wants to  update residents on its flood forecast as well as its flood readiness and flood management strategy. 

It says the greatest threat from floods is between May 15 and July 15.

Frank Frigo, leader of watershed analysis for the city, will brief media at 2 p.m. on Monday.

Still threatened

The city is still under threat from a flood, despite mitigation projects built since 2013. 

On the Elbow, the city should be protected from overland flooding once a dry dam is built in Springbank and a major renovation of the Glenmore Dam is completed. 

On the Bow, however, the risk will continue for the foreseeable future. 

Berms are being built in some communities, and the Ghost Reservoir will lower water levels in order to deal with any deluge. But the threat remains.

New Bow reservoir

Frigo recently told a city council committee that getting a new reservoir on the Bow is the key to flood protection.

"More than 40 or 50 per cent of the overall resilience would rely on the upstream reservoir," he said.

A working group studying the issue said that dam could take a decade to complete.