Alberta flood damage could have been reduced if report heeded: experts

EDMONTON – An expert says devastation could have been reduced in southern Alberta if the government had followed its own report on how to lessen the impact of severe flooding.

Paul Kovacs of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction says the report completed in 2006 has an excellent plan that should have been acted on quickly.

It’s seven years later and it is not clear how many of the report’s 18 recommendations have been put in place.

The report said the government shouldn’t sell Crown land in flood-prone areas and suggested it stop disaster recovery payments for inappropriate developments in flood zones.

Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths says some work has been done, but there’s no way all of the report’s recommendations could be fully implemented.

The government task force that wrote the report estimated it would cost $306 million to bring in a full flood mitigation strategy.