[Dion]

Flooded High River neighbourhood to be returned to natural state.

High River’s mayor announced Monday the town plans to return Wallaceville — one of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods in the June floods — to an undeveloped state.

Town council began exploring options to return the neighbourhood to an undeveloped state in November. Doing so would require the town to sidestep the province’s flood buyout process and remove all houses on the land.

The town had considered building a 3.2-metre-high berm to protecting the neighbourhood from future flooding. But the town’s head engineer has since called the feasibility of that plan “questionable.”

Instead, the town plans to remove all development in Wallaceville, widen the river channel and eliminate the choke point in the river.

The demolition of Wallaceville will affect 107 residential and commercial buildings, according to a town spokesperson. That includes a 42-unit condo building.

In a statement, Rick Fraser, the associate minister of recovery and reconstruction for High River, said returning the neighbourhood to its natural state was “really the only option” for the town, which has the full support of the province.

It’s unclear how the town plans to relocate residents in Wallaceville. Details on a “property purchase program” are still being finalized and will be made available in the New Year.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/ca...918/story.html