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The option to erect a dam near Morley has been eliminated, leaving two alternatives — one at Ghost Dam and the other at Glenbow East
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The province has dropped one of its options for Bow River flood mitigation, heightening concerns that will increase the vulnerability of potentially impacted parks.
The option to erect a dam near Morley has been eliminated, says the Alberta government, leaving two alternatives — one that would relocate or alter the Ghost Dam; the other that would see one constructed at Calgary’s western edge, dubbed Glenbow East.
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It’s a move that increases the odds of the latter possibility being chosen — one that would flood significant portions of Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park and Calgary’s Haskayne Legacy Park, said former city councillor Jeromy Farkas.
“While we understand why the government has taken the Morley option off the table, we do not understand why they insist on keeping the Glenbow (East) option alive,” said Farkas, the CEO of the Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation.
“They should have scrapped the Glenbow option at the same time, but chose not to.”
Some fear a Glenbow East Dam would also threaten to flood parts of Cochrane, he noted.
The government is expected to make a decision at year’s end for the site of a dam that would prevent flooding that wreaked havoc on Calgary in 2013 while providing enhanced drought storage.
One news report states a provincial official cited the inability to do testing for the Morley option as a reason for that possibility being dropped.
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There’s no one reason for the move, said a spokesman for Alberta Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz.
“There are many parts of any feasibility study and no single factor led to this decision,” Ryan Fournier said in an email.
“The relocated Ghost Dam and Glenbow East options have simply advanced much further and the feasibility studies are nearly complete, so we are focusing on those two options so we can move forward to the next phase of this project as soon as possible.”
The Morley option would directly affect the Stoney Nakoda First Nations west of Calgary. Requests made to them for comment went unanswered.
Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation favours Ghost Dam option
A provincial government report presented to the Bow River Working Group on May 14 states a relocated Ghost Dam and an option that would include dredging Ghost Lake to increase its holding capacity would easily meet the specifications needed to significantly reduce chances of a 2013-level flood.
Another effective approach, it states, would be combining dredging of Ghost Lake’s bottom with installing a low level outlet (LLO) on the existing dam that would increase storage and discharge capacity.
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Farkas, whose foundation favours the Ghost Dam alternative, calls the proposals avoiding relocating the structure “game-changers” that should make the province’s decision an easier one.
“We’ve been told for the past 11 years that to protect Calgary from another flood, another dam is necessary . . . you’re talking about modest changes,” he said.
“It would be a completely different scale to the ecological damage (from a Glenbow East or relocated Ghost Dam).”
But the report also says dredging would have negative environmental impacts and require federal and provincial regulatory approval while bringing with it complications from land acquisitions.
And the fiscal cost of sticking with the existing Ghost Dam would be considerable, it concludes.
“(There’s a) high cost associated with LLO and dredging. New dam construction is preferred as cost is comparable but for new infrastructure and more storage,” says the report.
‘None of this stuff is simple or straightforward’
In a 2020 assessment, the estimated cost for Glenbow East would be $992 million, a relocated Ghost Dam $917 million and Morley $922 million — but the Morley price tag didn’t include land swaps and other possible compensation. While the report says all possibilities would incur some environmental effects, it concludes those affected by Glenbow East would be most pronounced.
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That report also says the downstream effectiveness of Glenbow East would be “very good” compared to “good” for the Ghost Dam and “fair” for Morley.
The May 14 report concludes, “the relocated Ghost Dam option has the most storage remaining following the 2001 drought — this indicates greater flexibility to meet other objectives (e.g. environmental flow) compared to Glenbow East options.”
Farkas conceded the technical considerations facing the province are complex, even with only two possible solutions now on the table.
“We want to get the most protection possible but none of this stuff is simple or straightforward,” he said.
Albertans provide feedback
The families that have donated land or money to create Haskayne and Glenbow Ranch parks have said the Glenbow East option risks betraying their philanthropy.
The UCP government says there’s been considerable public consultation over the flood mitigation strategy that has included in-person meetings, webinars and online feedback portals over the course of three years.
A public feedback process that ended May 13 received 2,822 responses from people who ranked the importance of flood mitigation factors such as the social, environmental, economic impacts and project performance.
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The social implications were deemed most important in the survey but Farkas questioned its relevance given the process didn’t poll people on their choice of dam option.
“It remains to be seen if this feedback is even useful,” he said.
Said Alberta Environment and Protected Areas’ Fournier: “We value the feedback we have received from Albertans on these two options and it will help us decide how best to proceed.”
“The Alberta government continues to explore options to build additional flood and drought storage capacity on the Bow River to reduce the impacts of abnormal weather events on Albertans and the economy.”
BKaufmann@postmedia.com
X (Twitter): @BillKaufmannjrn
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