The City of Calgary announces members of Expert Management Panel on River Flood Mitigation

The City of Calgary has established a program to review Calgary’s flood response measures and mitigation efforts and to investigate ways of reducing and managing river flood risks to Calgary in the future.

 

An expert management panel has been created to employ a wide-ranging process to examine, evaluate and prioritize environmental, infrastructure and policy measures that would significantly reduce the potential harm from floods. 

 

"The City is working hard to protect people and property from flooding in the future,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “This process and its task forces will be an important part of that, and I thank these prominent Calgarians for stepping forward to help."

 

The expert panel, chaired by The City’s former Director of Water Resources, Wolf Keller, includes:

 

Darrel Danyluk, P. Eng. – Mr. Danyluk is a civil engineer with over 38 years of experience in the field of municipal infrastructure engineering.  In 2001, after 29 years of consulting, he joined the Department of Civil Engineering at the U of C as a Distinguished Industrial Visitor and subsequently an advisor to the office of the Vice-President of Research and International.  He is Chair of the Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee of Engineers Canada, Vice President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), and Chair of the WFEO Committee on Engineering and the Environment and actively participates in the UN Commission on Sustainable Development as well as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

 

Roger Gibbins, Ph.D. – Dr. Gibbins received his undergraduate degree from the University of British Columbia and his doctorate in political science from Stanford University in California. He moved to Calgary in 1973 to begin an academic career at the University of Calgary, serving as Department Head from 1987 to 1996 and where he authored, co-authored or edited 22 books and more than 140 articles and book chapters. In 1998 he began a 14-year term as President and CEO of the Canada West Foundation, a public policy research group based in Calgary and operating across the four western provinces.  Dr. Gibbins is an accomplished author, researcher and facilitator with wide-ranging experience in local, regional and national policy engagement.

 

Dr. Erika Hargesheimer, Ph.D., MBA – Dr. Hargesheimer holds a Bachelor of Science and Ph.D. in Environmental Analytical Chemistry from the University of Alberta as well as Master’s of Business Administration degrees from both Queen’s and Cornell Universities. Dr. Hargesheimer was the General Manager of The City of Calgary’s Community Services and Protective Services Department from 2001 to 2013.  As General Manager, she was responsible for supporting The City’s flood response as well as recovery planning in 2005, and in 2009 led the transition of Emergency Medical Services to the Province as a result of the realignment of medical services with the provincial health care system. 

 

Dr. Steve E. Hrudey, Ph.D., D.Sc.(Eng), P.Eng. -  Professor Hrudey has maintained a diverse, interdisciplinary career in environmental health sciences and risk management.  He is currently Professor Emeritus, Analytical & Environmental Toxicology Division Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta. He has participated in writing over 22 expert panel reports, serving as Chair for seven, dealing with high profile environmental health issues.  Professor Hrudey has published extensively in both academic and public venues including a widely acclaimed book based on the events surrounding the Walkerton tragedy.   He spent 13 years as a member of the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board, the last four as Chair.

 

“This panel is an exceptional group of experts and we are fortunate to have their involvement in this process,” said Wolf Keller, The City’s Chair of the panel.  “The panel will address community-wide and watershed scale river flood protection and will engage other experts and citizens throughout the process.  We will also be working closely with the Province since many of the possible solutions will require Provincial support and coordination of effort.” 

 

Now that the panel is in place, work will begin to determine how citizens will be engaged and how the panel will communicate their progress to Calgarians.  More information on this will be released in the coming weeks. 

 

"I'm pleased to be part of The City’s initiative to mitigate its systems and reduce the impacts of future flood events,” said panel member Darrel Danyluk.  “By reaching out to the expertise in the community The City demonstrates real leadership. There is a wealth of knowledge here that we want to tap into to help come up with feasible, effective and practical solutions.  I look forward to working with the other Panel members who bring a great diversity of skills and experiences to bear on the challenges before us.”

 

A dedicate web page has been set up on The City’s website at calgary.ca/floodpanel where updates, including future opportunities for citizen involvement, will be posted.

 

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