McIver faces opposition on campaign promise to build Springbank reservoir

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – Despite opposition within his party, Alberta’s Transportation Minister Ric McIver says getting the Springbank reservoir completed remains a priority for the new United Conservative government.

McIver’s caucus colleague, Banff-Kananaskis MLA Miranda Rosin, expressed her concerns in a letter to the minister last month.

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“In fairness to her, she’s doing her job by representing the views of her constituents,” McIver said. “And I would remind her, as I have, that there’s 86 other constituencies in the province and about 30 right around the city of Calgary who are worried about flood mitigation and their concerns have to be weighed into the conversation as well.”

The Springbank dam project is designed to protect Calgary from a once-in-a-hundred-year flood, like the one in 2013.

“The fact that there was billions, literally, of dollars worth of damage in Calgary and other communities is all the proof I need that we need to do something,” McIver said.

Currently, the process remains bogged down with environment reviews.

RELATED: Province hires lawyer to fast track Springbank reservoir

The provincial government has hired a lawyer in an attempt to expedite the process.

“The big question seems to be is ‘what’s the holdup?’ We need a decision from the federal and provincial environmental approval agencies.”

At the time, the 2013 flood was the most expensive natural disaster in Canada, with an impact of about $5 billion.

Since then, little has been done to protect the city from a similar disaster.