We are very excited to announce that The City of Calgary is exploring integrating the Calgary River Wave Park as part of the 10 Street Gravel Bar flood mitigation project. There is no guarantee that the waves will be possible but having the Calgary River Wave Park become part of a City of Calgary project is a huge accomplishment and milestone. Thank you so much to our community and supporters who helped advance the project so far. All the events, surfing, social and traditional media, and advocacy has paid off. The ARSA and the Alberta Whitewater Association have been advocating for the project for many years and are partnering with the City of Calgary on the project.
City of Calgary project site
ARSA wave projects overview site
https://albertariversurfing.com/overview-of-wave-projects
Statement from the City of Calgary
"Over the past several decades, a gravel bar has been forming in the Bow River under the 10 Street SW Bridge, also known as Louise Bridge. The 2013 flood resulted in a dramatic increase in size of the gravel bar. Since 2013, the gravel bar has become vegetated with plants. It is expected to continue growing in size, increasing flood risk to the area.
To lower flood risk, the approach is to realign the gravel bar. This means that the gravel and soil would be removed and redistributed within the area of the river. There is a natural wave adjacent to the gravel bar which has been used for recreation such as river
surfing. The City of Calgary project team is exploring incorporating a permanent recreational wave as part of this project. They are working with Alberta River Surfing Association and the Alberta Whitewater Association who provide expertise and represent river recreation user groups.
The project team is currently working on the preliminary design for the 10 Street Gravel Bar project. Please check the project webpage at calgary.ca/10stgravelbar for updates throughout the project."