The rising Red Deer River in Drumheller from spring of 2013.
As spring nears and the snow melts, citizens and the Town of Drumheller are looking for answers on how to reduce the extent of flooding in the Drumheller valley.
Late last week, Mayor Terry Yemen sent a letter to provincial Tourism Minister Richard Starke inquiring “if there have been any decisions made in regard to flood mitigation for Drumheller.”
The Mayor said the Town submitted to the province in late 2013 an extensive plan for lowering the impact of high water events.
“The Town has submitted the requested mitigation plan and have met with the Stantec consultants hired by the Government of Alberta on a number of occasions.”
“As spring is rapidly approaching, the Town is constantly being asked questions in regard to future mitigation which we are not able to answer,” Mayor Yemen wrote the Minister.
The provincial government hired three engineering firms in January to study flood mitigation options for the Athabasca and Red Deer Rivers.
Stantec Consulting is providing the engineering assessment and recommendations for flood mitigation options for the Red Deer River basin.
As reported in The Mail February 26, Alberta Environment and Sustainable Development stated the province starts monitoring the melting snow in the plains at the beginning of March, and they would issue an advisory of any concerns to municipalities.
Currently there is a spring runoff advisory for Alberta posted.
Residents can look up advisories at www.environment.alberta.ca/forecasting/advisories.
