When a rainstorm washes over the Bow Valley, an alert group of Exshaw residents keep a watchful eye on rising pools of water in their neighbourhood.
Homeowners on Pigeon Mountain Drive in the MD of Bighorn hamlet met with Banff-Cochrane MLA Cam Westhead about concerns over what they think is a lack of action by local government to mitigate overflowing storm water.
The meeting with Westhead in Exshaw last week prompted the MD to invite concerned residents to discuss their concerns as a delegation at a future council meeting – the nearest being Tuesday (July 14) at 9 a.m.
There’s a sense of unease when even small rain events occur and water rushes towards the east end of Exshaw’s drainage system. Memories of the 2013 flood that rocked the community still creep into the minds of those affected and instincts to protect their homes and property are relived when the drainage becomes overwhelmed.
In a June 2015 letter to the MD, which included a signed petition of 14 signatures from local residents, it says “poor engineering” during flood mitigation work has left their homes more vulnerable than ever.
“Many residents on Pigeon Mountain Drive have now spent close to two years rebuilding their homes after the 2013 floods and over this time the MD has done very little to fix the problems involving drainage,” wrote Anthony Neilson, a Pigeon Mountain Drive homeowner.
Neilson added a request for immediate action to re-engineer and rebuild the drainage system and culverts in the area.
The letter referenced two rain events since the devastating 2013 flood where drainage couldn’t handle a “small weather event” volume. It’s a problem that only started to occur after the 2013 event, the letter states, although no property damage has occurred for Pigeon Mountain Driver homeowners.
Westhead said he has spoken with the municipality and is eyeing a meeting towards the end of July to discuss the matter.
“I know there’s a lot of work done to date and I know there’s still a lot of work yet to be done to make people feel safe and secure and I’m committed to making sure I go to those residents and listen to their concerns, and the municipality’s, and see what their plans are and see how we can move forward and work together to accomplish that goal,” Westhead said.
The MD says the area of concern is a low spot where water will run towards the east end. A natural drainage carries the storm water along Highway 1A.
In April, the MD received $2 million of its requested $23.7 million in the first round of provincial flood mitigation funds for 2015-16 from the Alberta Community Resilience Program.
While short-term flood mitigations projects in the MD are nearly completed, Bighorn Chief Administrative Officer Martin Buckley says the residents have “legitimate concerns” the MD has to address.
However, Buckley thinks there might be a “mix up” in this situation between normal storm water management and flood recovery.
“In short, we can probably deal with storm water, but if they’re expecting us to fully protect them from another 2013 incident, that may be very difficult, if not down right impossible, to do,” said Buckley.
When the spring provincial election occurred, things came to a screeching halt on mitigation measures for Exshaw and Jura creeks.
“The (provincial) interim budget was approved on June 15 by the new government and we’re waiting for copies of the agreements that will come that we can sign off on and money will start to flow for us to do the design work and repair work on the two creeks,” Buckley said.
