Provincial government officials will be conducting flood hazard mapping of the Red Deer River upstream of Sundre over the next year, Mountain View County councillors were told during last week's policies and priorities committee meeting.
Peter Onyshko, a water resources engineer with Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, outlined plans to conduct the “McDougal Flats – Red Deer River Flood Hazard Study” starting immediately.
The study will see organizers gather data on areas that are at risk from flooding caused by excessive overbank river flow.
The data will then be used to create hydraulic model maps representing the river. The maps can be used by the municipality in future land-use planning.
Identifying and understanding flood hazards is the first step in any program to reduce flood damages, he said.
“Individuals and all levels of government have a responsibility to reduce flood hazards within their areas of jurisdiction, and have a role in managing flood hazard areas through appropriate land-use planning,” said Onyshko.
MVC reeve Bruce Beattie said he is pleased the study is now getting underway.
“It's important that we have that technical backup when we go to residents and explain why we are establishing certain rules and regulations around development in a flood plain,” said Beattie.
Asked if he is concerned about the one-year timeline to have the study's final report completed, Beattie replied, “When he described the technical approach that they are taking and the amount of data they are going to gather, I'm not concerned. Let's do it right. Let's get all the data and make sure the study is scientifically valid.”
“As far as I am concerned, we can't allow any further development in that area until we have the study in hand. I think that would be a prudent approach, not allowing any additional development in that area (until the study is completed).”
