MEDICINE HAT — Saskatchewan and Manitoba are spending millions of dollars on systems and physical structures to prevent flooding this year but Alberta will not be following their lead.
“We can’t control mother nature,” Environment Minister Rob Renner said Tuesday. “We can’t prevent everything Mother Nature sends our way.”
Renner said a bad flood that caused extensive damage in southern Alberta last year was one in a thousand and the province has systems in place to monitor the snowpack.
“Alberta is different (from Saskatchewan and Manitoba) in that we have water from one of the most managed systems,” said Renner.
Medicine Hat has received about four times its average precipitation in the month of January.
Heavy snows have brought concerns of a repeat of last year’s spring floods that began when saturated ground began emptying into creeks that run out of the Cypress Hills in the extreme southeast of the province.
The flood waters inundated the town of Irvine on June 19, 2010, and destroyed about ten homes and several businesses in Medicine Hat, along with portions of rail lines and the Trans-Canada Highway near Maple Creek, Sask.
The governments of Saskatchewan and Manitoba have each announced spending about $20 million separately on flood prevention measures.
After the current snow in Alberta has disappeared a study will be done that includes detailed topography and mitigation measures, said Renner. There are plans to remove some of the obstructions in the creeks to allow the water to flow freely but that task has to wait for spring.
Renner did not have reassuring words for flood victims who are nervous about another flood.
“It does not mean a flood won’t happen again this year,” said Renner. “We share the same risk as anyone else in a flood area.”
Renner said a significant amount of money is being spent in Medicine Hat on building berms and dikes.
Len Mitzel, member of the legislature for Medicine Hat-Cypress County, said much of the worry about spring flooding is speculation.
“It is incumbent on municipalities to be in touch with Alberta Environment to see what can be done,” said Mitzel. “It’s fine to talk about spending money like Saskatchewan and Manitoba for berms and dikes but where would we to put the berms and dikes here to reduce the risk?”