The potential for flooding exists along all streams and lakes in Alberta.
- Flooding can cause damage to property, hardship to people and in extreme events, loss of life. To assist Albertans in mitigating potential flood losses, Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development manages the production of flood hazard studies and mapping under the provincial Flood Hazard Identification Program.
- The Flood Hazard Identification Program assists Alberta communities to prepare for a flood event with a one per cent chance of occurring annually (this is also known as a 1:100 year flood event).
- Information is collected in a format known as a flood hazard study for a specific location within the province. The study focuses on a single river but may also include information about other smaller tributaries that may also influence a flood event.
- To create a flood hazard study an assessment of the river system’s hydrology and topography needs to occur and be modelled with known river data. The outcome of the study is to create a visual representation (a flood hazard map) for anticipated areas that would be impacted by a flood event. These maps only need to be replaced or updated if there has been a change in the hydraulic system.
- Areas denoted include floodway zones and flood fringe zones. Overland flow areas are considered to be part of a flood fringe zone.
- The flood hazard maps seen on this site are up-to-date and final. These maps will be used for the Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) in assessing the location of flood ways and flood fringes. The map is interactive and users can scroll to see specific locations along the river systems.
Source: Alberta Government