Work is beginning on flood mitigation projects in the hamlet of Bragg Creek, which will involve building berms along Bragg Creek and the Elbow River that would protect the community from future reoccurrences of the Hundred Year Flood.
According to Grant Kaiser, manager of communication services with Rocky View County (RVC), the County is currently in phase one of the two-phase project. The first phase will involve planning, data collection, consultation with landowners and First Nations, and environmental approval. Phase two will be the construction phase.
“Right now, residents may see County staff and consultants conducting field work by Bragg Creek and the Elbow River throughout the month of July,” Kaiser said. “Staff will be collecting data through land and river surveys and environmental assessments.”
Most of the work will take place on County-owned or Provincial land, but Kaiser said the County has also sent letters to select landowners requesting consent for access to private land.
After the necessary information has been collected, a public open house will be hosted in early 2017 to update the community and stakeholders on the project before construction begins.
“The timeline may change as the project develops, but currently, construction is tentatively scheduled for the summer of 2017,” Kaiser said. “Construction is expected to take approximately six months from start to finish.”
Kaiser said there isn’t much RVC can do to prevent construction from being a bit of a disturbance to area residents.
“Construction always impacts those close to the site with noise, dirt and sometimes traffic disruptions,” he said. “But the County will do everything possible to ensure as minimal impact as possible to those in the area, and we will keep residents updated during construction.”
Following the 2013 flood in Bragg Creek, Kaiser said the Alberta government studied ways to avoid or reduce the impact of floods in the future and made a series of recommendations, including berms. RVC hosted an open house in November 2015, where the Province presented the flood mitigation project proposal.
“The Province has offered a flood mitigation package of $32.8 million in funding to construct approximately 3.4 kilometres of earth dykes to protect the hamlet on both sides of the Elbow River from any future flood events,” Kaiser said. “In the event of a one-in-a-hundred-year flood the berms would contain the river and prevent the flooding that occurred in 2013.”
For more information, visit rockyview.ca and search for “Bragg Creek Flood Mitigation.”
