(Picture courtesy of the Alberta Government)
The province is looking to ban development in flood ways with new legislation, and because much of Fort McMurray’s downtown is in a flood zone, the rules will need to be ‘unique’.
Fort McMurray-Conklin MLA Don Scott says he doesn’t know exactly what it will look like yet.
“People have been making a lot suggestions already, and it’s going to be something that I’m going to need to discuss in consultation with the municipality,” he continues, “I know that other regions in Canada have dealt with this issue. We’re certainly going to be looking at every innovative step we can.”
Scott says, “we might want to take protective measures or mitigation measures that are going to have an insulating effect on the lower townsite.
He says Fort McMurray will be given a unique plan and they’ll be looking at a lot of engineered solutions through the process.
“We need a vibrant downtown and we need to make sure that the solution for our region takes into account this new policy, but it also deals with the realities of our situation.”
Part of the City Centre Redevelopment are plans to protect from flooding.
Provincial plans include building berms and relocating residents to low risk areas.
For a link to more provincial flood information CLICK HERE
July 15th, 2013
