SR1 Update from the Springbank Community Association
Greg Clark’s recent defense of the proposed Springbank Reservoir Project (SR1) is five years out of date. Yes, the project is stuck, but the blame doesn’t reside with the opposition.
We believe SR1 is an example of our regulatory system being strong, not weak. Just 15 minutes upstream of the Glenmore Reservoir, SR1 is an unprecedented approach to flood management in Canada. It follows that regulators have a huge job to do to. To date, they have asked all the right questions – whether it can function safely and properly under high debris and sediment conditions, if its environmental impacts – to fish, wildlife, air, water, soil and vegetation – are tenable, and what the Treaty implications are for impacted First Nations. The reality is that Alberta Transportation submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment so deficient that over 700 follow-up questions were asked, requiring another year of study and 8000 additional pages of submissions. If we are looking for blame, look to the Alberta Government for an incomplete submission to the federal regulator.
Let’s catch Mr. Clark up on the facts.
Fact: SR1 complexity has only increased – gates, channels, outlets, berms, spillways and a new debris deflector all needing to work together in a high- stress, time-sensitive manner.
Fact: SR1 now costs significantly more than the alternative at McLean Creek.
Fact: SR1 needs at least four times more land than McLean Creek.
Fact: Several high-pressure pipelines will need to be moved, buried and armoured.
Fact: Air quality guidelines will be exceeded as the reservoir drains.
Fact: Repetitive destruction to fish, wetlands and their inhabitants, dens, nests and elk habitat will occur each time the reservoir is used, along with irreversible impacts to the land resulting from up to 4 metres of silt.
Is this what we signed up for?
The reality is that SR1 and McLean Creek provide the same flood protection to Calgary. The ancillary benefits of McLean Creek, a permanent reservoir, are so much more. These benefits were, and continue to be ignored: McLean Creek protects Bragg Creek, Tsuu T’ina and Redwood Meadows from flood; it will help with fire suppression, drought management and water security; it can become an improved and sustainable recreation destination. With SR1, the recreation areas on the Elbow River upstream of Bragg Creek are still vulnerable to flood: Paddy’s Flats and Elbow Falls recreation area were destroyed in 2013.
SR1 was chosen over McLean Creek, not for technical reasons, but because the Government relied on a set of value- based judgements: that SR1 would be faster because it wouldn’t need the same level of regulatory scrutiny as McLean Creek; that acquisition of private lands wouldn’t impact the timeline; that recreation areas were more important than farms, businesses and homes; that forest was more important than native grasslands, that First Nations were more likely to resist McLean Creek; that both projects were equal from a climate change perspective. Every one of those assumptions has been proven wrong.
Mr. Clark is correct that a whole range of legal challenges are yet to come. SR1 is a bad project chosen in a flawed process. Let’s take stock of where we are at. Tsuu T’ina Nation, Rocky View County, Bragg Creek Community Association, Bragg Creek Chamber of Commerce and Springbank Community Association are all opposed along with 97 percent of all submissions to the federal regulator. Further, Kamp Kiwanis, 100 years of serving Alberta’s kids, will be cut in half by this project.
So yes, our western communities are using this regulatory pause to speak out – as Albertans – to say we need a more thorough look at McLean Creek, a project that will leave a positive legacy for future generations with less cost. The Tsuu T’ina believe we need to manage this earth forward for seven generations.
A form letter can be found on springbankcommunity.com and emailed to us at info@springbankcommunity.com, if you would like join us in the letter writing campaign ending this September 2019 at the Springbank Fall Fair.
McLean Creek. Protect All, Harm None.
Karin Hunter
President,
Springbank Community Association
