An open letter to Lacombe residents:
The recent storm events have been very challenging for everyone and certainly do not emulate normal rainfall amounts in our community.
The water that has impacted the City of Lacombe so adversely is being generated from outside our corporate boundaries as well as within the city. Storm water from Lacombe drains to Wolf Creek along with water from surrounding lands in Lacombe County.
With the volume of water received over short periods of time in July, Wolf Creek was overwhelmed and water surged into surrounding areas. This impedes the drainage of water from our municipal storm water system into the creek as it is already full.
As you can see, the larger problem extends beyond the corporate limits of the City of Lacombe. Having said this, the City of Lacombe is committed to study capacity issues within city limits and will be meeting with Stantec Engineering to review how we might deal with areas that have experienced repeated flooding.
The recommendations and associated costs generated from this engineering review will be presented to Council for consideration and inclusion into a multi-year capital plan.
I also encourage you to contact City Hall at 403-782-6666 and provide details on the flooding you have experienced if your insurance company has denied coverage.
An application will be submitted to the government of Alberta under the Flood Recovery Program to compensate the municipality and residents for flood related damages.
Norma MacQuarrie,
Chief Administrative Officer
Lacombe