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Potential Flood Storage Schemes in the Bow River Basin

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Potential Flood Storage Schemes in the Bow River Basin POTENTIAL FLOOD STORAGE SCHEMES IN THE BOW RIVER BASIN Submitted to: Alberta Environment and Parks Resilience and Mitigation Branch Edmonton, Alberta Submitted by: Amec Foster Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure Calgary, Alberta September 2015 CW2174 Amec Foster Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure is committed to achieving sustainability through balancing economic growth, social responsibility and environmental protection. Learn more at: http://amecfw.com/aboutus/sustainability.htm Alberta Environment and Parks Amec Foster Wheeler Flood Storage Schemes in the Bow River Basin Environment & Infrastructure Calgary, Alberta September 2015 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Amec Foster Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure, a division of Amec Foster Wheeler Americas Ltd. (Amec Foster Wheeler), has been asked by Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) Resilience & Mitigation Branch (RAM) to investigate opportunities for flood storage in the Bow River Basin upstream of Calgary. The study was to investigate flood storage opportunities within the Bow River basin upstream of Calgary that would provide protection to The City of Calgary (the City) and other stakeholders from floods with a magnitude similar to the June 2013 flood event. This report provides the results of a high level, conceptual, desktop investigation and therefore: ► The June 2013 flood event is referenced to provide perspective with respect to the size of potential flood mitigation works required. Additional work is required to finitely establish the size/frequency of the design flood event for mitigation purposes; ► Costs are an indication of likely capital investment; ► No geotechnical investigations were carried out; ► No detailed or preliminary design has taken place; ► Operational specifics have not been studied in detail; ► Land ownership and use has not been studied in detail; and ► No environmental review has been undertaken. The summary table on the following page identifies 11 possible flood mitigation storage locations along with their characteristics and some relevant technical information. It is recommended that the following work be undertaken prior to wider engagement on selected schemes: ► Confirmation of basin hydrology and study of historical events within each basin; ► A desktop review of geotechnical/geo-hazard risks at each site; ► A desktop review of environmental, social, land use & ownership constraints; ► Confirmation of dam characteristics and affected areas; ► Identification of external and internal (government) stakeholders for each scheme; ► Identification of infrastructure, pipelines & utilities that may be affected associated with each scheme; ► The establishment of design criteria; and ► Identification of other potential risks and issues to be resolved. It is important to emphasize that the viability of all 11 of these schemes is yet to be proven and each will have environmental, social, geotechnical and design challenges which should be identified before going to stakeholder engagement. Potential flood flow reductions resulting from each individual scheme are related to complex basin hydrology. Due to differences in basin response times (the amount of time it takes for rain falling within a basin to reach the point of interest), it cannot be assumed that the actual flow R:\Water Resources\General\PROJECT\Cw\2174 Flood Mitigation\500 - Deliverables\510 Reports\Bow Basin Opportunities Report\2015- Page i 09-24-fnl rpt-cw2174 Bow Opportunities-gg.docx Alberta Environment and Parks Amec Foster Wheeler Flood Storage Schemes in the Bow River Basin Environment & Infrastructure Calgary, Alberta September 2015 reductions achieved in Calgary for multiple schemes would be the arithmetic sum of flow reductions from individual schemes; nor can it be assumed that the flow reductions would be achieved for all flood events. Detailed hydrological analysis should be undertaken at the preliminary design stage to achieve the optimal balance in geographic location and project size. A summary description of 11 potential schemes is provided in Table 1. R:\Water Resources\General\PROJECT\Cw\2174 Flood Mitigation\500 - Deliverables\510 Reports\Bow Basin Opportunities Report\2015- Page ii 09-24-fnl rpt-cw2174 Bow Opportunities-gg.docx Alberta Environment and Parks Amec Foster Wheeler Flood Storage Schemes in the Bow River Basin Environment & Infrastructure Calgary, Alberta September 2015 Table 1: Summary of Potential Bow River Flood Storage Schemes Ref Scheme Description River Upstream Proportion of Bow Indicative Estimated Type of Basin Area Basin Regulated Project Cost Storage Mitigation or (km2) by Scheme ($million) Available Opportunity (dam3) 1 Spray River basin upstream of Spray Spray River 510 6.6% <$100 N/A Operational Operational Lakes Reservoir Opportunities in 2 Cascade River Basin upstream of Cascade River 640 8.5% <$100 N/A Operational Tributary Lake Minnewanka Watersheds 3 Kananaskis River Basin upstream of Kananaskis River 360 4.6% <$100 N/A Operational Lower Kananaskis Lake Upper Ghost River Diversion into 4 North Ghost River 230 2.9% <$100 Est 20,000 New Project Lake Minnewanka Dam on Ghost River Upstream of 5 Ghost River 615 7.8% $200-$400 50,000 to 70,000 New Project Waiparous Creek New Projects on Tributaries to the Dam on Waiparous Creek Upstream 6 Waiparous Creek 330 4.2% $200-$400 30,000 to 40,000 New Project Bow River of Ghost River Dam on Kananaskis River near 7 Kananaskis River 900 11.4% $200-$400 80,000 to 90,000 New Project Upstream end of Barrier Lake Dam on Jumpingpound Creek 8 Jumpingpound Creek 600 7.7% $200-$400 50,000 to 70,000 New Project Upstream of Bow River Confluence Operational Opportunity on 9 Ghost Reservoir Dam Drawdown Bow River 6500 85% <$100 50,000 to 70,000 Operational Bow River Mainstem Dam on Bow River Upstream of 10 Bow River 7770 >95% <$1,000 60,000 to 80,000 New Project New Projects on Bearspaw Reservoir Bow River Dam on Bow River upstream of Ghost Mainstem 11 Bow River 5300 65% <$1,000 >150,000 New Project Lake (Morley) R:\Water Resources\General\PROJECT\Cw\2174 Flood Mitigation\500 - Deliverables\510 Reports\Bow Basin Opportunities Report\2015-09-24-fnl rpt-cw2174 Bow Opportunities-gg.docx Page iii Alberta Environment and Parks Amec Foster Wheeler Flood Storage Schemes in the Bow River Basin Environment & Infrastructure Calgary, Alberta September 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Scope .................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Project Scale Requirements .................................................................................. 1 2.0 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................ 3 2.1 Overview ............................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Existing Tributary Basins with Flow Regulation ..................................................... 3 2.2.1 Scheme 1 - Spray River Upstream of Spray Lakes Reservoir ................ 3 2.2.2 Scheme 2 - Cascade River Upstream of Lake Minnewanka .................. 4 2.2.3 Scheme 3 - Kananaskis River Upstream of Kananaskis Lake (Upper and Lower) .................................................................................. 5 2.2.4 Summary of the Effect of Existing Tributary Basin Flow Regulation .............................................................................................. 6 2.3 New Opportunities on Tributaries of the Bow River ............................................... 7 2.3.1 Scheme 4 - North Ghost Diversion to Lake Minnewanka ....................... 7 2.3.2 Scheme 5 - Ghost River Dam Upstream of Waiparous Creek ............... 8 2.3.3 Scheme 6 - Waiparous Creek Dam Upstream of the Ghost River ......... 9 2.3.4 Scheme 7 - Kananaskis River Dam Upstream of the Barrier Reservoir .............................................................................................. 10 2.3.5 Scheme 8 - Jumpingpound Creek Dam ............................................... 10 2.4 New Opportunities on the Main Stem of the Bow River ...................................... 12 2.4.1 Scheme 9 - Ghost Reservoir Drawdown .............................................. 12 2.4.2 Scheme 10 - Dam on the Bow River Upstream of Bearspaw Reservoir .............................................................................................. 12 2.4.3 Scheme 11 - Dam on the Bow River Upstream of Ghost Lake (near Morley) ........................................................................................ 13 3.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................. 14 4.0 CLOSURE ....................................................................................................................... 16 R:\Water Resources\General\PROJECT\Cw\2174 Flood Mitigation\500 - Deliverables\510 Reports\Bow Basin Opportunities Report\2015- Table of Contents 09-24-fnl rpt-cw2174 Bow Opportunities-gg.docx Alberta Environment and Parks Amec Foster Wheeler Flood Storage Schemes in the Bow River Basin Environment & Infrastructure Calgary, Alberta September 2015 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Summary of Potential Bow River Flood Storage Schemes ........................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 June 2013 Bow River Hydrograph and Mitigation Requirements .......................... 2 Figure 2 Spray Lake and
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