The Town of High River has joined the Town of Okotoks in supporting a motion at the upcoming Alberta Urban Municipalities Association Convention asking the Province for higher and more standardized design standards when it comes to flood hazards.

Mayor Craig Snodgrass says the thresholds set by the Province aren't high enough to prevent serious flooding in the future and the mitigation standards have to be higher.

"In Alberta, we have a design standard of one-in-100, is to what you have to mitigate your developments to. Nobody else has them. We're the only one's in the country that are one-in-100. The other minimum is one-in-200 and all the others are above that to one-in-500."

He says Okotoks is taking the lead on this initiative with the AUMA.

"So they came and wanted to put a resolution forward to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association for this year's convention to try and get support from all the other municipalities to lobby the province to elevate our standards."

Snodgrass says the proposal would see flood mitigation standards move from a one-in-100 year event, to a one-in-200 year event.

 

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