Council approved $250,000 for a Storm Water Mitigation Project and $100,000 for a Sanitary Manhole Flooding Protection Retrofit Project. The decision follows the two major flooding events in Stony Plain this summer. After the massive rains hit our community, the Town conducted a preliminary assessment of the performance of the existing infrastructure and flood risk areas. In some areas of Town the storm water system was not capable of handling the extreme amount of water which caused local street and private property flooding. In addition the major transmission system for Whispering Waters Creek was undersized which also caused backup. An additional challenge was the amount of storm water inflow into the sanitary system which caused backup into some residents’ homes.

Ian McKay, General Manager of Planning and Infrastructure reported, “The sheer amount of rain caused challenges for the Town’s current infrastructure. We are implementing a step-by-step plan improve the community’s resilience and limit the risk of this happening in the future.” He continues, “We are already working on storm system maintenance including culvert flushing and cleaning.”

The report presented observations aligning with the Town’s Storm Water Management Master Plan, completed earlier this year. Council’s decision to allocate these funds means a detailed plan can now be analyzed and accelerated. Next steps include potential culvert upgrades of approximately $6 Million, improvements to local areas that experienced flooding, storm system maintenance, sanitary manhole sealing and installation of storm and sanitary monitoring devices.

The Town has also made an application to the province to the Disaster Recovery Program for financial assistance for both private and public damage which occurred. The Town will consider requesting funding from the Alberta Community Resilience Program and any Federal grant opportunities once more details are understood.

Mayor William Choy met with residents after the flooding to hear their concerns and view damage to properties. “This summer’s flooding has reaffirmed the importance of storm water infrastructure for our community. We need to be proactive and move forward with upgrades to the system based on the recommendations from technical experts.”

Residents directly affected by this year’s flooding were in attendance at Monday evening’s Regular Council Meeting.   

View the Flood Mitigation Response and Plan on page 89 of the August 19th Agenda.