The Town of Drumheller is feeling more positive over the Province of Alberta’s proposal to curb developments in floodways following a meeting with Andre Corbould, chair of the Southern Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force, last Wednesday.
The Town and residents of Drumheller had expressed concern over the proposed development ban, which many felt would have disastrous consequences for Drumheller.
Following the meeting, development in Drumheller could be saved due to extensive mitigation throughout town.
“It was a very positive meeting. The three areas we talked about were Drumheller not getting credit for our mitigation, voicing strong opposition to putting any caveat on residents' property if they’re in the floodway, and an information session in Drumheller for the people of Drumheller,” said Mayor Terry Yemen. “We made our point loud and clear and spoke about our issues and concerns.”
One of the results of the meeting will be the identification of approved development areas. However, it is unlikely the flood hazard maps published by the Province will be changed.
“There will probably be approved development areas, which is what we have now. They’re going to take into consideration the mitigation the Town has done, the mitigation of the Dickson Dam, and mitigation of the dykes, which is what we asked for,” said Yemen. “They are recognizing the mitigation that has been put in place.”
During and after the flood in 2005, the Town of Drumheller undertook a large-scale flood mitigation effort, which helped save a number of areas in Drumheller during the most recent flooding.
Drumheller’s Land Use Bylaw has also garnered the attention of the Province.
“They asked to see our Land Use Bylaw and later that night, I got a call from the Associate Minister, Greg Weadick, and he had reviewed the bylaw and said we were the poster child moving forward. They were impressed with our bylaw and want to use it as a model going forward,” said Yemen
Last week, the Province announced some changes to their proposed flood policies. Earlier this summer, it was announced a caveat or note would be placed on properties located in both floodways or flood fringes, which includes large swathes of Drumheller.
However, on Friday, August 16, Rick Fraser, Associate Minister of Regional Recovery and Reconstruction, announced location notices would not be required on land titles within the floodway or fringe.
“Since we introduced our flood mitigation program to protect homeowners from future floods a few weeks ago, some common questions have been raised,” said Fraser. “We’ve heard Albertans loud and clear and have taken their feedback to adjust the policy.”
Disaster Recovery Program notices would, however, still be required for properties in the floodway and fringe. The notice would be removed on flood fringe properties that undergo mitigation efforts.
Since the flood ended, the Town of Drumheller had been disappointed in the lack of communication from the Province.
“We were disappointed with the lack of communication with the government after the flood. During the flood, it was great, but then when the mapping came out, they went silent,” said Yemen. “That was brought up and they promised to be better that way.”
