Although the spring thaw is likely still a few months down the road, some groups are already looking ahead to see what can be done to mitigate any potential flooding.
Myron Thompson, former Conservative MP for the Wild Rose riding, attended a meeting for the Red Deer River Municipal Users Group (RDRMUG) on Jan. 16. He told the Gazette he's tired of simply talking about mitigation.
"The point of this meeting is we are still battling to get something done for prevention of flooding in Sundre (and Mountain View County). I am tired of words,î said Thompson.
"We've done study, study, study ñ spend, spend, spend. I want to see some action and I'm trying to get this group of people to get involved and spur something on.î
Thompson attended the meeting in the stead of Sundre mayor Terry Leslie, who wasn't able to make it that day, and the group represents people and companies that utilize and are affected by the Red Deer River.
Thompson was there encouraging the group to step up and take action before it happens again, as Sundre was flooded last year, and many county residents lost farmland and crops.
"We know that prevention is a lot cheaper than compensation, and if you can prevent a flood, you can prevent a lot of contamination. We know that if you put some work towards erosion control you can stop even more contamination,î he said.
The river is the provincial government's responsibility, and it needs to get something organized and do something before the problem recurs, he added.
He explained the debate on the river started in the '70s when there was a battle over whether flood protection should be at Sundre or where Dickson Dam is now, at which point the dam was built.
"And so the debate's gone on and on about what are we going to do about flood protection. Lots of promises but (the province) better hurry up and show me something, because I'm getting to that age where I don't even buy green bananas ñ I want to see something happen before I leave this good earth,î he said.
There was also a flood in 2005, after which there were many studies commissioned and recommendations made, but he said there has been nothing really done to fix the problem.
"In the meantime, there are landowners losing property, and people have lost quarter sections of land because there's no effort to do anything to help control it or save these properties,î he said.
Carrie Sancartier, public affairs officer for Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, spoke about the many variables in the risk of flooding, including the spring thaw.
"But the spring melt depends a lot on the weather. At this point we couldn't really say much about the spring thaw (to come),î said Sancartier.
"But what I can tell you about is the amount and speed of the spring melt anywhere in the province is really dependant on the change in temperature.î
There are many factors that play into the risk of flooding, such as overnight temperatures in the mountains, amounts of precipitation, and overall temperatures, she said.
She referred to the snow data available on Limestone Ridge, an area in the Rockies that feeds the Red Deer and Little Red rivers.
"The greater the snowpack, the greater the risk, but if the change is gradual and the nighttime temperatures remain below zero, the risk can be mitigated that way,î she said.
April will be a better time to gauge the risk of flooding, as it's impossible to predict the weather this far in advance, she said.
Sancartier referred to a graph that can be found at (http://tinyurl.com/nqwrcmu), which keeps an up-to-date measure of the snowpack at the Limestone Ridge.
"So the blue line is this year, the two black dotted lines are the range of normal, and the green is last year. So you can see it's significantly higher this year than is typical,î she said.
"However, a lot can happen between now and April. Some of this snow could melt, or you might not see a lot more snow. So as you move across, if it were to stay at that level, in April, it would be near the range of normal.î
