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Bow River” by Tim Redpath is licenced under CC BY 2.0. No changes were made to photograph.

In the 18 months since the 2013 floods occurred in Alberta, a wide range of mitigation options for the Bow River Basin have been identified, studied, and implemented by the Government of Alberta (GoA), municipalities, non-government organizations, and others.

With a number of options still under consideration, the GoA announced in the fall of 2014 that it wanted to look more closely at the approach taken by the Netherlands to manage flooding in the Rhine River branches, called the Room for the River program. A pilot project was undertaken in the Bow Basin to consider the Dutch program and measures and the extent to which they could be adapted and applied here to reduce vulnerability of people and infrastructure and improve the overall environmental quality of the Bow and Elbow rivers.

The report below was submitted to GoA on December 19th, 2014 for their review and consideration. It includes an overview of the pilot and the resulting advice to GoA. Many organizations and individuals contributed to this pilot. In this continuing spirit of collaboration, the report is being broadly shared and further comments are welcomed. 

These reports are being published on the WaterPortal in order to make the information widely available to the public. Please read the report and feel free to share it with others. If you would like to offer comment, please do so via e-mail or in the comments box below. The WaterPortal will ensure your comments or suggestions are communicated to the authors and recipients of the report. Comments and feedback will be accepted until January 31st

 

Click here to download Room for the River Pilot in the Bow River Basin: Advice to the Government of Alberta

 

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.