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Southern Alberta Flood Mitigation Feasibility Study for Sheep, Highwood River Basins and South Saskatchewan River Sub-Basin Highwood River Water Management Plan

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Southern Alberta Flood Mitigation Feasibility Study for Sheep, Highwood River Basins and South Saskatchewan River Sub-Basin Highwood River Water Management Plan Water Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force Southern Alberta Flood Mitigation Feasibility Study for Sheep, Highwood River Basins and South Saskatchewan River Sub-Basin Highwood River Water Management Plan Prepared by: AECOM 17203 103 Avenue NW 780 488 6800 tel Edmonton, AB, Canada T5S 1J4 780 488 2121 fax www.aecom.com Project Number: 60309815 Date: July 9, 2014 AECOM Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force Highwood River Water Management Plan Statement of Qualifications and Limitations The attached Report (the “Report”) has been prepared by AECOM Canada Ltd. (“Consultant”) for the benefit of the client (“Client”) in accordance with the agreement between Consultant and Client, including the scope of work detailed therein (the “Agreement”). The information, data, recommendations and conclusions contained in the Report (collectively, the “Information”): is subject to the scope, schedule, and other constraints and limitations in the Agreement and the qualifications contained in the Report (the “Limitations”); represents Consultant’s professional judgement in light of the Limitations and industry standards for the preparation of similar reports; may be based on information provided to Consultant which has not been independently verified; has not been updated since the date of issuance of the Report and its accuracy is limited to the time period and circumstances in which it was collected, processed, made or issued; must be read as a whole and sections thereof should not be read out of such context; was prepared for the specific purposes described in the Report and the Agreement; and in the case of subsurface, environmental or geotechnical conditions, may be based on limited testing and on the assumption that such conditions are uniform and not variable either geographically or over time. Consultant shall be entitled to rely upon the accuracy and completeness of information that was provided to it and has no obligation to update such information. Consultant accepts no responsibility for any events or circumstances that may have occurred since the date on which the Report was prepared and, in the case of subsurface, environmental or geotechnical conditions, is not responsible for any variability in such conditions, geographically or over time. Consultant agrees that the Report represents its professional judgement as described above and that the Information has been prepared for the specific purpose and use described in the Report and the Agreement, but Consultant makes no other representations, or any guarantees or warranties whatsoever, whether express or implied, with respect to the Report, the Information or any part thereof. Without in any way limiting the generality of the foregoing, any estimates or opinions regarding probable construction costs or construction schedule provided by Consultant represent Consultant’s professional judgement in light of its experience and the knowledge and information available to it at the time of preparation. Since Consultant has no control over market or economic conditions, prices for construction labour, equipment or materials or bidding procedures, Consultant, its directors, officers and employees are not able to, nor do they, make any representations, warranties or guarantees whatsoever, whether express or implied, with respect to such estimates or opinions, or their variance from actual construction costs or schedules, and accept no responsibility for any loss or damage arising therefrom or in any way related thereto. Persons relying on such estimates or opinions do so at their own risk. Except (1) as agreed to in writing by Consultant and Client; (2) as required by-law; or (3) to the extent used by governmental reviewing agencies for the purpose of obtaining permits or approvals, the Report and the Information may be used and relied upon only by Client. Consultant accepts no responsibility, and denies any liability whatsoever, to parties other than Client who may obtain access to the Report or the Information for any injury, loss or damage suffered by such parties arising from their use of, reliance upon, or decisions or actions based on the Report or any of the Information (“improper use of the Report”), except to the extent those parties have obtained the prior written consent of Consultant to use and rely upon the Report and the Information. Any injury, loss or damages arising from improper use of the Report shall be borne by the party making such use. This Statement of Qualifications and Limitations is attached to and forms part of the Report and any use of the Report is subject to the terms hereof. AECOM: 2012-01-06 © 2009-2012 AECOM Canada Ltd. All Rights Reserved. RPT2-2014-07-09-Highwood_River_Basin-60309815-FINAL.Docx AECOM Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force Highwood River Water Management Plan Executive Summary Background As a result of devastating floods in Southern Alberta in June 2013, a number of residents formed a small group that was referred to as the Advisory Panel. The Advisory Panel undertook a reconnaissance of southern Alberta to develop large-scale flood mitigation proposals in the Bow, Elbow, Sheep and Highwood river basins. These proposals were then provided to the Southern Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force (SAFRTF) for their consideration. The Southern Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force (the Task Force) retained AECOM in October 2013 to provide engineering services for flood mitigation assessments in southern Alberta and the study was to be completed at the end of March 2014. After the award of the work, AECOM was assigned to assess flood mitigation schemes in the Sheep and Highwood river basins and the South Saskatchewan River Sub-Basin with the schemes to be considered provided by the Task Force. The objectives for the study included: Review and evaluation of flood mitigation proposals Development of selection criteria Identify a water management strategy for flood mitigation The reviewed projects would be assessed for feasibility based on: Technical feasibility Economic cost and benefit Social and cultural impacts and benefits Environmental impacts and benefits No specific scope of work was provided at the request for proposal stage. As a result, the scope of work for the study was developed during the month of November 2013. Level of Service The Terms of Reference for the study specified that Alberta’s Mitigation will be based on the 1% (100-year) flood event. For flood hazard mapping in Alberta, the design flood is taken to be the 1% (100-year) flood. This is based on the federal guidelines for the Flood Damage Reduction Program and can be taken to be the level of service that the GOA has deemed to be appropriate for flood protection of communities. However, the 1% (100-year) flood service level may be too low for large towns and cities due to the higher density and often higher property values in those communities 2013 Flood Damages in Highwood River Basin During the 2013 flood, extensive damages occurred in the Town of High River. The town is generally located within the flood hazard area, as delineated on the existing Flood Hazard Mapping published by Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (AESRD). Under the Provincial Disaster Recovery Program, 389 business and institutions, 2,760 homes and condominiums and 1,411 landlords and tenants have filed claims. RPT2-2014-07-09-Highwood_River_Basin-60309815-FINAL.Docx i AECOM Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force Highwood River Water Management Plan In addition to the flood damages in the three towns, flood damages occurred at various locations throughout MD of Foothills. The total cost of the 2013 flood damages in the Highwood River Basin was estimated to be $94.2 million, based on the information available to AECOM at the time of preparation of this report, whereof 96% were due to flood damages in the Town of High River. Water Survey of Canada has preliminary estimated that the peak discharge during the 2013 flood was approximately 1,820 m3/s at Hogg Park, upstream of the Town of High River. Due to overbank flow into the Little Bow River basin and general flooding in the Town of High River area, the peak discharge through the Town of High River was significantly less but it had not been quantified by the time this report was prepared. Local Flood Mitigation Non-structural flood mitigation consists of zoning, flood hazard mapping and the prevention of developments in flood hazard areas. In general, there are limited opportunities for non-structural flood mitigation within the communities in the Highwood River Basin. However, it must be recognized that not everything can be protected from flood damage and, in the longer term, it is more cost-effective to remove developments in flood risk areas than attempting to modify the extent of the flood risk area. As a result the extensive damage to the Wallaceville neighbourhood during the 2013 flood, the Town has decided to vacate that neighbourhood. The Town of High River initiated a local flood mitigation program immediately after the 2013 flood to be in place before the 2014 flood season. The mitigation scheme consists of a flood protection dyke system for which the top of the dykes have been placed 1 m above the water level estimated to occur, with the proposed dykes in place, during an event with the same peak discharge as the June 2013 event. As a result, with the proposed dykes in place, the town should be protected during a similar event in the future. The current Centre Street (Highway 2A) bridge is an old bridge in the middle of the town that causes a constriction for Highwood River flood flow. The bridge has a design discharge capacity of 450 m³/s which is less than the design discharge for next bridge farther downstream (Highway 543), which has a design discharge capacity of 750 m³/s. Through discussions with the Town of High River and the Task Force, it was concluded that 750 m³/s could be discharged through the town during the 1% (100-year) design flood event, provided the existing Centre Street bridge is replaced with a new and larger bridge.
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