Flood Resilience and Recovery
Some low-laying areas of Medicine Hat are historically prone to overland flooding. The City of Medicine Hat utilizes flood mitigation methods to prepare for future events.
Alberta flood maps
The Government of Alberta offers interactive maps related to flooding in the province.
Flood mitigation
Since the 2013 flood, the City of Medicine Hat has embarked on a committed effort towards various flood mitigation and resilience projects throughout the city, involving extensive community engagement. Projects include:
https://www.alberta.ca/medicine-hat-flood-study-engagement
- Berms, dikes and riverbank stabilization (PDF)
- Storm sewer back up protection (PDF)
- Temporary flood mitigation preparations (PDF)
- Sanitary sewer lift station replacements (PDF)
- River Flats sink hole study (PDF)
- Personal property flood protection (PDF)
- Trail rehabilitation (PDF)
Do flood fringe areas change after berms are constructed?
Once construction of all the planned Medicine Hat berms/dikes are completed, engineers expect that there will be significantly more protection from flooding (overland flow) within inhabited flood-prone areas in the city.
However, accurate projections of future flooding in Medicine Hat are infeasible due to mitigation measures which have been established upstream (e.g. Calgary, other communities) and other unforeseeable variables.