CH Director Prof. John Pomeroy was asked recently by the Calgary Herald to comment on the wisdom of siting a proposed new CalgaryNext arena for the Calgary Flames on the banks of the Bow River.

Prof. Pomeroy commented that – given the widespread impact of flooding throughout Calgary in June 2013 from what was likely less than a 1:50 year event, and the prospect of future events of greater severity and even magnification of these events by climate change – this seemed a surprising and possibly hazardous choice for the site. Ideally any development in the floodplain should be establishment of parks or similar land uses that would not sustain damage from flooding. This has created some discussion in the community that is described in the following articles –

• Water expert astonished by proposed location of CalgaryNEXT along Bow River
  Original     PDF archive
• City councillor aggravated by CalgaryNEXT floodplain concerns
  Original     PDF archive
• Wikipedia – CalgaryNEXT
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