In August 2013, Alberta WaterSMART released the collaborative White Paper, The 2013 Great Alberta Flood: Actions to Mitigate, Manage and Control Future Floods. A broad group of practitioners from across Alberta, Canada and the world participated in developing this paper. The paper was created to provide proactive recommendations for flood management in Alberta.  

During the creation of the paper, two draft versions were posted on the Alberta WaterPortal with the intent of collecting public feedback. The response was excellent, leading to the creation of two separate feedback documents, which are available here.

Since the release of the original White Paper, much has been accomplished by different levels of government, various provincial organizations, businesses and individuals. To reflect these efforts, Alberta WaterSMART has revisited the recommendations outlined in the White Paper and created The 2013 Great Alberta Flood: Progress Report on Actions to Mitigate, Manage and Control Flooding to highlight actions and activities undertaken to date, and to outline planned next steps.

This Progress Report attempts to capture these activities to show areas that have been fulfilled and topics where gaps remain. The purpose of the Progress Report is to show what recommendations have been acted upon by identifying flood related activities and initiatives to date and where gaps still remain. It is not intended to be a critique or assessment of the specific actions or non-actions of any government, organization, business or individual.

To capture more activities to date and next steps forward, Alberta WaterSMART is requesting the WaterPortal community to review the Progress Report and provide feedback to the following questions;

1.       Is the original collaborative paper, The 2013 Great Alberta Flood: Actions to Mitigate, Manage and Control Future Floods, still relevant today?

2.       Do you have additional recommendations for flood mitigation, management and/or control in Alberta?

3.       Are you aware of any activities or initiatives that are underway that are not listed in the Progress Report? If yes, please describe.

4.       Moving forward, what are some next steps or priorities you would like to see for flood mitigation, management, and/or control in Alberta?

 

Feedback can be submitted either by filling in the comment boxes below or by e-mail. Public feedback on the Progress Report will be accepted until Tuesday April 8th, 2014. Comments and recommendations will be included in a final report that will be submitted to the Government of Alberta’s Flood Recovery Task Force.

Photograph of WaterPortal Board Member Ross Douglas

Ross Douglas

Board Member

Ross has extensive executive experience in Operations, Governance, Information Technology and Strategy at the board and senior management level including Mancal Corporation, Mancal Energy, Highridge Exploration and Atlantis Resources. He has worked in Oil and Gas, Coal, Commercial Real Estate, Portfolio Management, Recreation, Retail and Water and Wastewater Treatment. His experience is also geographically diverse having overseen operations in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Additionally, he has been on the board of companies with operations in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Kazakhstan, and Russia. He has served on numerous Public, Private and Not for Profit Boards across a number of industries.

Ross has been active on several industry Boards and committees including the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and The Schulich School of Engineering Industry Advisory Council at the Schulich School of Engineering.

Photograph of WaterPortal Board Member Brian Mergelas

Brian Mergelas, PhD, ICD.D

Board Member

Brian is a seasoned Cleantech entrepreneur with a proven history of successfully bringing complex water technologies to the market.   With over 25 years of experience, he has led various organizations to achieve significant milestones in the industry. 

Having started as the founding CEO of the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company (PPIC) and later taking the helm at the Water Technology Acceleration Project (WaterTAP), Brian’s entrepreneurial spirit has been instrumental in driving innovation and growth within the sector. 

He is an active investor in the cleantech sector and has served on many boards including the Ontario Clean Water Agency. 

Actively engaged in industry associations like AWWA, WEF, IWA, and ASCE, Brian enjoys collaborating with fellow professionals to promote advancements in the field. 

Brian holds an undergraduate degree and a PhD in Physics from Queen’s University, which has provided him with a solid technical foundation.   As a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, he brings valuable insights to corporate governance.