By Charles Lefebvre

No new funding announced for flood mitigation projects in Medicine Hat

May 1, 2018 | 10:50 AM

CALGARY, AB — The province has announced an additional round of funding for flood mitigation efforts, however, Medicine Hat was not on the list.

During a news conference in Calgary Tuesday morning, more than $30 million in flood mitigation projects across the province were announced under the Alberta Community Resilience Program.

The majority of the announced projects were located in Calgary, with approximately $13 million going towards a downtown flood barrier, improving the flood resiliency of the Inglewood Bridge and separating the Upper Plateau stormwater system from the community of Sunnyside-Hillhurst to mitigate flooding

Medicine Hat was not among projects announced during the conference. The city has spent more than $33 million on flood mitigation efforts, including berms. Crews are currently working on a berm on Industrial Avenue near Medalta, and is hoping for funding to complete projects on Kingsway Avenue and Kipling Street.

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Minister of Environment and Parks Shannon Phillips notes ACRP funding is announced twice per year, and says there is a ranking list for flood mitigation projects.

“Those projects are ranked according to priority, according to risk to public safety and so on, they are not ranked in any other way other than that, and they done by officials at a technical level,” she said. “I would have to follow up on the status of Medicine Hat projects.

“I’m well aware of the needs in Medicine Hat. Both Speaker Wanner and the city council have been very good advocates for the community, and we’ll make sure the details of what’s anticipated for this year and next.”

In southern Alberta, the Town of Taber received $3,228,870 to construct a wetland on the east side of town.

$10 million was earmarked for emergency investment in the province to add equipment such as sandbags, tiger dam kits, sandbag fillers and pumps to the provincial stockpile and reimburse municipalities for the cost of flood mitigation efforts.

The province also announced $5 million in Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program grants, including $3.3 million to Ducks Unlimited Canada to restore 165 hectares of drained wetlands in priority watersheds, including in the South Saskatchewan River basin.