Group worried about Bow River flood mitigation project to host meeting

A group worried about the environmental impacts the Bow River flood mitigation project could have on the Glenbow Ranch Park is hosting a meeting Wednesday night.

The Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation (GRPF) is hosting an information session May 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Bearspaw Lifestyle Centre.

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It follows other meetings in Cochrane and Springbank.

The foundation is concerned about the impacts of a flood and drought mitigation project on the Glenbow Ranch Park.

"The provincial government is considering flooding part of Cochrane — including Bearspaw and Haskayne Legacy Parks, and Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park — to build a new reservoir," the GRPF website says.

It goes on to say, "This new Glenbow East dam would not only catastrophically impact our parks, but negatively affect our recreational opportunities, wildlife, environment and property values."

Under the mitigation plan, the province is assessing three options:

• Building a new dam in the Morley area between the Seebe hydro office and the Ghost Reservoir;
• Increasing the storage capacity of the existing Ghost Reservoir by relocating the Ghost Lake dam; and
• Building a new dam in the Glenbow area between the Ghost Reservoir and the Bearspaw Dam.

(Courtesy: Government of Alberta)

A press release from the GRPF says there will be also be an update from provincial officials on the project's status and public feedback at the meeting.

The province’s public feedback session opened April 15 and closed May 6.

A decision on the project is expected early next year.

From that point, the engineering and regulatory approval process would begin, with a final decision to come in 2030.

More information about the Bow River reservoir options project can be found online.