Merrill Harris, Reeve of the MD of Taber, at the announcement. (screengrab from news conference)

By Chris Brown

Mitigating storm events and snow melts

Feds give nearly $10M to Horsefly spillway in Municipal District of Taber

Nov 23, 2020 | 10:57 AM

TABER, AB – Enlarging 14 kilometers of existing irrigation canals to divert stormwater from the St. Mary River Irrigation District Main Canal to the Oldman River during storm events will better protect properties, crops and other infrastructure in the Municipal District of Taber.

Federal funding of more than $9.8 million for Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the Horsefly Regional Emergency Spillway was announced today by Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna and Reeve Merrill Harris of the MD of Taber.

“The Municipal District of Taber underwent catastrophic flooding in 2018,” said McKenna via videoconference from Ottawa. “Flooding of home but also of prime agricultural land that put people but also your community at risk.”

READ MORE: Regional flood mitigation program taking small step to realization

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McKenna said the project will help make more than 60,000 people across the region more resilient to flooding, by protecting residents, their properties and crops.

“In the last 10 years our region has been hit with five of what could be called one-in-a-hundred-year flood events, resulting in millions of dollars of widespread property, farmland and infrastructure damage while forcing some people to be evacuated from their homes causing emotional devastation for several residents across southern Alberta,” said Harris.

Past events created the possibility of overwhelming the main canal. If any part of the system was broken, says Harris, “the result would be six months to a year where vital irrigation water would be unavailable. Water that is vital and needed to support the production of the high-value specialty scops that are grown in this region such as potatoes, sugar beets, corn, seed canola, onions alfalfa, Timothy hay, dry beans and sunflowers.”

The water delivered by the SMRID supplies over 500,000 acres of irrigated farmland in southern Alberta, he said.

READ MORE: MD of Taber to receive $13M for flood mitigation projects

McKenna said the project will divert stormwater at a rate of 55 cubic metres per second from the main canal to the Oldman River during snowmelts and heavy rainfalls. Wetlands will be added to reduce pollutants entering the Oldman River.

“All too often now our communities are seeing worse impacts of severe weather including caused by climate change. Disaster mitigation projects like this one have a real and positive impact on communities by helping to ensure that everyone is better protected.”

Anywhere from 100 to 150 jobs will be created by the construction work.

Quick facts

• The Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) is a $2-billion, 10-year program to help communities build the infrastructure they need to better withstand natural hazards such as floods, wildfires, earthquakes and droughts.
• To date, more than $1.9 billion has been announced through DMAF for 67 large-scale infrastructure projects that will help protect communities across the country from the threats of climate change.
• DMAF is part of the federal government’s Investing in Canada plan, which is providing more than $180 billion over 12 years for public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and rural and northern communities.
• The Government of Canada is also investing more than $8.8 million for Phase 1 of the Horsefly Regional Emergency Spillway project through the Green Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada plan.
• To support Canadians and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new stream has been added to the over $33-billion Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program to help fund pandemic-resilient infrastructure. Existing program streams have also been adapted to include more eligible project categories.
• The COVID-19 Resilience Stream will help other orders of governments whose finances have been significantly impacted by the pandemic by increasing the federal cost share for public infrastructure projects.
• The Canada Healthy Communities Initiative will provide up to $31 million in existing federal funding to support communities as they deploy innovative new ways to adapt spaces and services to respond to immediate and ongoing needs arising from COVID-19 over the next two years.