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Municipal flood experts and city officials have identified the Springbank reservoir as a “priority” when it comes to flood protection, particularly for Calgary’s downtown.

Photo by Postmedia Archives

Provincial experts have said the proposed dam, along with improvements to the Glenmore Reservoir, would be capable of storing water volumes equivalent to the 2013 flood.

The project, which has faced staunch opposition from landowners who’d need to give up property to make way for the reservoir, triggered reviews by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and Alberta Environment and Parks.

It cannot go forward until regulatory approval is granted once those reviews are complete.

“The timing of the regulatory process is out of our control,” Transportation Minister Ric McIver said Friday.

He said the government’s submission provides responses to “hundreds” of questions by those regulatory bodies.

“This submission demonstrates our commitment to doing everything necessary to complete the regulatory process for the Springbank reservoir,” he said.

The federal agency has 15 days to review the government’s 8,000-page submission, before a one-year window to complete its environmental assessment would resume.

The assessment is currently paused 110 days into that timeframe. Government officials confirmed Friday a decision resulting from the regulatory review would be needed over the course of the remaining 255 days.

Last month, the United Conservative government hired lawyer Martin Ignasiak to explore ways “to assess opportunities to expedite construction” of the project. McIver said Ignasiak’s role is to make sure the review process continues “without us being part of the delay.”

“Mr. Ignasiak’s work is not yet complete. He was hired to expedite the process,” McIver said. “That means to make sure that we, from our end, aren’t the delay if there is any delay.”

Those opposed to the project appeared to get a boost in May when Banff-Kananaskis MLA Miranda Rosin, a UCP MLA, urged the government to consider other flood mitigation strategies, such as a dam at McLean Creek.

In a letter addressed to McIver, Rosin stated the McLean Creek option “could protect all of our upstream and downstream communities,” including those in Springbank, Redwood Meadows, Bragg Creek and Tsuut’ina Nation.

She stated that consultation “is something that has never been adequately done since the project was first introduced six years ago.”