This historical graph puts the Flood 2013 into perspective. While the flow of the Bow has been managed to a great extent, there have been a couple past events that are magnitudes greater. Whether one wishes to refer to a 1:10/50/100/500 yr event, the flood of 2013 only represented 67% of the known and measured peak flood a couple of centuries ago (ca 1870), and barely breached the 1:20 limit. Modernization of society has dampened the impact to some degree (i.e., lower amplitudes in variation), but from a proximity and wealth perspective, the effect has been dramatically intensified.
SOURCE |
2 comments:
Good graph showing frequency. The last 80 years look like anomalous.
Also, I heard from a source in a relevant City dept that max flow last Friday was closer to 2000 m3/s.
Ghost dam was completed in 1929. Bearspaw dam was completed in '54. I believe these may have had a significant influence over flood magnitude. Such tempering of flows is beneficial to downstream users, but if capacities of the reservoirs is exceeded - then their influence becomes rather negligible. Thanks for the comment - much appreciated!
Post a Comment