Alberta outlines $125M drought and flood grant program as water-sharing talks continue
CBC
The Alberta government says it will accept applications from municipalities and Indigenous communities across the province who want to design and construct projects that protect from flooding and drought. It is pegged to launch later this year.
The project would allocate $25 million per year from 2024-25 through 2028-29, and could be used to develop berms, flood walls and bank protection, among other projects.
It's modelled after the Alberta Community Resilience Program, but some of the eligibility criteria have been expanded. The money for the initiative was included in last week's provincial budget.
Speaking at a press availability on Monday, Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz said she didn't have specific guidance on which municipalities would received funding for projects, or what types of projects they should be applying for.
But she cited the situation in the Alberta community of Pincher Creek as an example of how the program could function.
Last week, David Cox, reeve of the Municipal District of Pincher Creek, told CBC News that water levels behind the nearby dam had dropped so low that the M.D. was being forced to pump water, a situation that started last summer.
It even led to hauling water at a cost of up to $8,000 per day. But in an effort to be more resilient to drought, the municipal district was hoping to drill two aquifers.
"At the moment, we're waiting for authorizations to [drill] the wells within the dam's footprint," Cox said last week.
"That's pretty time sensitive because we want, need, to get all this work done before the spring melt brings the water levels back up in the dam and we lose that opportunity."
Speaking Monday, Schulz said the province worked with Pincher Creek to find interim solutions, such as moving the community's intake valve. But longer-term solutions are now on the radar, she said.
"To, essentially, get access to water below the water table, so that regardless of where the water levels are at, the community has access to water," Schulz said. "That would be an example of the type of project that would absolutely be eligible for this type of program."
Alberta Municipalities, the association representing 260 of Alberta's municipalities, posted on X, formerly Twitter, that it welcomed the introduction of the program.
"This program gives municipalities the support they need to strengthen their local and regional drought responses," reads a statement attributed to Tyler Gandam, president of Alberta Municipalities.
Paul McLauchlin, president of Rural Municipalities of Alberta, said he, too, was in support of the program.
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