Background

Alberta Transportation submitted an application on November 3, 2017 to the NRCB to construct an off-stream reservoir near Springbank, Alberta. The reservoir would work in tandem with the Glenmore Reservoir in Calgary to accommodate water volumes equal to the 2013 flood. The proposed reservoir would be located 15 kilometres west of Calgary near Springbank Road, north of the Elbow River and predominantly east of Highway 22. For further information about the proposed project please see Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir on the Alberta Transportation website.

The application was revised and resubmitted to the NRCB on March 26, 2018. On November 6, 2017, the NRCB and Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) issued a joint notice of filing.

The application consists of the  environmental impact assessment (EIA), prepared by Alberta Transportation in accordance with the terms of reference set out by the NRCB, Environment and Parks, and other government agencies. To view the EIA, use the “Review Documents” search, below.

NRCB reviews may be jointly conducted with other provincial and federal regulators, including the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA). In this case the federal minister of the environment decided to conduct a separate environmental assessment of the project. The revised application incorporates information requested by CEAA on November 16, 2017. For information on the status of the CEAA review of the application, please refer to the CEAA website. 

Environment and Parks leads the review of the EIA and coordinates the supplemental information requests from the NRCB and other government agencies. Environment and Parks and the NRCB issued a joint notice on November 6^th, 2017 to advise the public that the application would not be deemed complete until any deficiencies in the environmental impact assessment were identified and addressed.

Information about the NRCB’s review process can be found at the following links: 

• Guide to the Board Review Process under the Natural Resources Conservation Board Act, 2018
• Guide to Intervener Funding, 2018 

Current Status

Environment and Parks sent a supplemental information request (SIR#1) to the applicant on July 28, 2018. SIR#1 sets out the deficiencies in the EIA that were identified by the NRCB and other Government of Alberta agencies.  The NRCB also issued a number of priority questions to Alberta Transportation on February 21, 2018.

Alberta Transportation’s response to SIR#1 and to the priority questions is required for the NRCB and provincial government to continue their evaluation of the application. Based on Alberta Transportation’s response, Environment and Parks and the NRCB will determine whether further information requests are necessary.