Starting this week, residents will see activity along the diking system and at the Newcastle Beach related to grubbing, outfall maintenance and thinning of bush.
These activities are a necessary maintenance to ensure the operational readiness of the diking system and to make room for the river. The brush and willows growing along the shores can be both friend and foe when it comes to protecting the riverbank from erosion. The willows and brush provide armour. This generally occurs on outside bends in the river. On inside bends, brush and willows slow the water down and depositions of silt and gravel occur.
As the river levels fluctuate during a season or over years the deposition makes the bank higher diminishing channel capacity. The Newcastle Beach is a prime example of the outside bend erosion and the inside growing higher with deposition.
Crews will also be removing brush and trees from the vicinity of storm outfalls adjacent to some bridges. This work will be completed in part by utilizing the Work Release Program from the Drumheller Institution directed by the Drumheller Resiliency and Flood Mitigation Office.
Darwin Durnie, Chief Resiliency and Flood Mitigation Officer commented, “I’m very pleased that the flood program and Institution can cooperate in the implementation of some activities required to make Drumheller flood ready.”
For more information on being flood ready go to https://floodreadiness.drumheller.ca/
