As a former Calgarian, I do glance at the headlines in their local newspaper called the Calgary Herald from time to time. This morning was one of those times. A headline that caught my eye had the word Springbank in it, and as I have friends that live there, I wanted to read what it was all about. It turns out that the new Premier of the province has come up with a suggestion to build a dry reservoir west of Calgary in the Springbank area, in order to protect the city from any chance of future floods, similar to the ones that happened in 2013. In addition to that, the province is analyzing a feasibility study to build a 5km tunnel from the Glenmore reservoir to the Bow River in order to divert water from the Elbow river. The combined cost of these two projects if they were to be approved is expected to be around $700 million, and would take years to complete. Naturally there is some opposition to these plans, however as quoted from the article,
Prentice defended the Springbank dry reservoir as the “most cost-effective” and “most environmentally defensible solution in the immediate term.”
While negotiations with landowners living within the boundaries of the dry reservoir would be handled with sensitivity, the government often needs to make difficult decisions, he added.
“Government involves tough decisions and tough choices,” Prentice said. “And our government is intent on making those choices.”
it appears that the government will probably go ahead, in spite of opposition which seems to be the norm for governments in this day and age. Even huge public demonstrations on a variety of issues has little or no effect on the outcome. Another quote from the article seems to confirm this:
But the coalition of Springbank landowners and environmentalists blasted the province for approving the dry reservoir, claiming the government did not adequately consult with residents and chose the reservoir because it was a “politically convenient option.”
Assuming the projects go ahead, there is absolutely no guarantee that it would make any difference in the long run. Why? Meandering jet streams. I've spoken about this in previous blog posts but just to review. Due to the rapid warming of the Arctic, the temperature gradient between the pole and the equator has been reduced, which has caused the jet stream to both slow down, and meander. The greatest side effect of this, is to cause weather systems that would normally pass through a particular area fairly rapidly, to slow down and get stuck. A classic example is what is going on in California at the moment causing severe drought conditions. The opposite of course is a torrential downpour. It all depends on which side of the jet stream you're on.
So let us get back to Mr Prentice and his plans to mitigate flooding in Calgary in the future. The money will be spent, and it will no doubt be more than is assumed at the moment (it always is), and Calgary will then think it is prepared for the next big rainstorm. The last one dumped between 8 and 10 inches of rain on the area, and the infrastructure just couldn't cope with that much water in such a short period of time. But what's to say that the next time it happens it won't be twice as much rain, or three times as much? Or perhaps the opposite happens and the Calgary area is affected by a long term drought as in California. The point is, that trying to now put in place systems that will mitigate the effect of these positive feedback loops like the meandering jet stream, are way too little, and way, way too late. It's like a doctor putting a band aid on a gaping wound. It will have virtually no impact and the patient will soon die.
But this is the world we live in now, as insane as it all seems. Perhaps the people running the show in Alberta could do a bit of study on what's really going on regarding climate change and its impact, however I don't expect that to happen. Instead, they, like many others have chosen the option below, as a way forward.
In the meantime, back here in Nanaimo, there is a furball named Piper who is wanting some attention because he is looking for a treat. Plus it's a beautiful sunny Sunday, so I want to spend some of my precious time outdoors. It's time to sign off until next month.
Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
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