Crucial Facts re Flood Protection every Calgarian Should Know

Have you been out lately by Glenmore reservoir, fishing, canoeing or just enjoying a picnic?

When you look at the size of this reservoir, take a minute and imagine another reservoir 5-times this size. That is the size of the proposed Springbank dry reservoir (SR1). If the Glenmore dam were to fail, the water released would cause great devastation to the City of Calgary and surrounding communities.  

1- How much more damage would result if the SR1, which is located only 15 kilometers away from Calgary, should fail?

For the sake of your own safety, the safety of your family and for the safety of our beautiful city of Calgary, it is time for every Calgarian to pay attention, do research, speak up and ask your councillor, MLA or MP the following questions.

The Expert Panel on Flood Mitigation, consisting of more than 50 members, has estimated the volume of the 2013 flood as 100M m3, and since the SR1 is classified as an “extreme” consequence dam, basic engineering design requires adding a margin of safety with an order of magnitude 25% – 50% larger than 100M m3.

2- Are you aware that the SR1 maximum available design capacity is only 77,771,000 m3?

Normal engineering practices require that dams be designed to protect against “worst case scenario”.  However, it has been reported in many official documents that SR1 is designed to protect against floods of the "estimated" size to the 2013 flood, or less.

Dams’ life time in Alberta has exceeded 50 years and Glenmore dam is reaching 100 years.

3- Can common sense or basic engineering practices assume that during the next 100 years, after building the SR1, our province wouldn’t experience a flood bigger than that of 2013?

 Most scientists and experts predict next floods could be worse than previous ones.

The SR1 would not protect Calgary because, as the consultant Deltares warned, it could be overwhelmed by another 2013 size or larger flood.  Also, it cannot store up water for different usages and it cannot be used for recreation or fishing.

One of the most critical documents required before proceeding forward with the SR1 project is a stamped and signed Initial Design Report (IDR).

4- After five years, why is this IDR still in the draft stage? Millions of Stakeholders, with valid concerns and objections to SR1, have been paid Millions of dollars to buy their approval before the required IDR has been issued.

5- And, why has so much time, money and resources been spent on a project that has not yet passed the necessary safety and technical design requirements?   

There are other better options including the Micro-Watershed Impounding (MWI) and the Tri-river Joint Reservoir of Alberta: http://preventingalbertafloods.ca

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has directed that these options be examined, but as of today, these studies have not been done. 

Please sign this petition and share it with others you think should be aware of this information.