Plans for a potential dam just northwest of Calgary could flood up to 30 per cent of a massive park, prompting the CEO to push for a different plan.
In mid-April, the province opened up public consultations on upstream Bow River options, something that’s been a long-term solution sought after the 2013 southern Alberta floods.
The province wanted input on two options: Expanding and upgrading the existing Ghost Reservoir or building a new reservoir between Cochrane and the Bearspaw Dam near Calgary.
“Droughts and flood protection is top of mind for many of us this year, especially in Calgary and southern Alberta,” said Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz.
“We have been taking a hard look at various options to protect downstream communities and the families who call them home. Now we need Albertans’ feedback to help us decide if one of these options should proceed.”
Jeromy Farkas, CEO of the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park, just on the northwest outskirts of the city, said that one third of their 3,296 acres would be flooded as a part of the conceptual Glenbow East dam.
He’s encouraging citizens to participate in public engagement to have their views known. Farkas said there are only nine days left to participate, and you can only do it via an online survey.
“We were disappointed that the consultation was online only and that there was a very short window of opportunity,” he said.
“Our advocacy is not so much about stopping a dam. It is about advocating for a solution that serves everybody’s interest well.”
Farkas said they’re pushing for the Ghost Reservoir upgrade as it would protect Cochrane as well. Because the proposed Glenbow East version is planned as an on-stream reservoir, the water would back up towards Cochrane instead.
“We want to be able to make the case for a solution that serves the park’s needs, serves Calgary’s needs, and serves Cochrane’s needs,” he said.
Thus far, the province has been receptive to ongoing conversations, and they’ve invited Minister Schulz to tour the park.
Dam is not the only thing causing park loss
Based on the early plans for the Glenbow East a significant portion of the CPKC main line would have to be relocated. That encroaches even further into the park’s land. It would require a significant corridor within the parklands, Farkas said.
Almost half of the CPKC line on the north side of the Glenbow East proposal would have to be relocated, according to preliminary drawings on the Alberta government website. Farkas said they would also have to make room for potential airport rail connections via Calgary.
“We’d also be losing a significant portion of the park, not to the actual reservoir itself, but for the need to move the train tracks and allow for the significant right of way for expansion to be able to construct the Calgary to airport rail connections,” Farkas said.
Farkas said that they’d also be dealing with bathtub depth water for much of the year. Given the flatness of the area around a proposed reservoir, it would leave what he referred to as swampland and mud flats that would, for many months of the year would be dry and produce a great deal of silt and debris moving into Calgary with the prevailing winds, according to Farkas.
He said that plan would also impact the Haskayne Legacy Park, and hundreds of acres in the area they steward.
To that end, they’ve been a victim of their own success, Farkas said. They’ve assembled hundreds of acres in the area where the ownership isn’t fractured. That’s made it easier for the province to consider this as a viable option for a dam.
When Farkas took over as CEO, he had a dream of working towards a viable connection between Bowness, through Haskayne Park and into Cochrane.
“Make no mistake. The dream of a Calgary to Cochrane connection as part of the TransCanada Trail would be permanently impossible,” he said.
“The narrows are just too tight if that section is flooded. It would be permanently off the table to be able to continue that trail connection from Cochrane into Glenbow Ranch and into Calgary.”
This round of consultation on the project ends on May 6.
