Canmore isn’t the only level of government that has woken up to the realities of how debris floods and debris flows in mountain creeks can cause catastrophic damage to developed areas.
While the local municipality has taken the lead in conducting hazard and risk assessments on all mountain creeks that drain onto alluvial fans in the community, the provincial government is also eyeing a new program for these waterways throughout the province’s mountainous region.
Environment and Sustainable Resource Development spokesperson Jason Penner said the government currently has a draft report to identify alluvial fans in the province with development on them and assess the hazards.
“It is a watershed management project,” he said. “It is not only an inventory, but a geohazard risk prioritization assessment as well.
“We are not only identifying them, but having an assessment of the risks that can lead to strategies to mitigating that risk.”
While Canmore is undertaking the same process on its creeks and the MD of Bighorn on its creeks, the provincial report will look at all other alluvial fans that have development at risk from debris flow and debris flood events. The final report is expected to be complete at the end of December.
Manager of engineering Andy Esarte said he has found the province and ESRD to be proactive and supportive of Canmore’s program to address creek hazards.
“They are taking the lead on an initiative to map out hazards provincially and require hazard assessments to be done,” Esarte said. “We can look back at decisions from the past, but looking forward to the future we anticipate making more informed and better decision on alluvial fans.”
