Flood mitigation is a high priority for premier

Jim Prentice
Photograph by: Darcy Henton, Calgary Herald

Flood mitigation is a high priority for premier

Here are two responses to a Calgary Herald article (Oct 18) "Pouring money into the flood". (read original article here: http://bit.ly/1y2Yahq )

The first is from Kevin Van Tighmam, the second from Premier Jim Prentice.

Kevin Van Tighham writes: 

"This is essentially building a huge new floodplain for the river in order to avoid letting it back onto its actual floodplain. The houses along the Elbow River in Calgary include many occupied by wealthy people the Conservatives are wooing That's why the logical solution - buy them out and give Calgary a magnificent new urban park - is off the table and flooding out rural people who never built on a floodplain is the preferred option. Evidently the golden rule continues to apply down where the river lives: them as has the gold makes the rules."

Jim Prentice op-ed:

Prentice: Flood mitigation is a high priority for premier
By Jim Prentice, Calgary Herald October 21, 2014
Re: “Pouring money into the flood,” Oct. 18.

The flood of June 2013 caused nothing less than catastrophic damage to communities along the Bow and Elbow rivers and all orders of government have the responsibility to mitigate the risk of repeat events. This is the simple underlying reason behind moving forward with key and effective mitigation measures now.
The Springbank Off-Stream Diversion Project meets the important test of being a strong solution that is also cost-effective, environmentally defensible and quickly actionable. That is why I moved to advance this project immediately upon becoming premier.

A Calgary Herald story published Oct. 18 says that the cost-benefits of the project do not add up. I disagree. I would note first and foremost that public safety is of utmost importance to this government and that cannot be measured in dollars alone.

Read more here: http://bit.ly/1wFT9fL