At least $500,000 ($11,000,000 in 2015), 2000 people homeless.
Like all rivers, the North Saskatchewan River is subject to periodic flooding, beginning with rapid snowmelt in the mountains or prolonged periods of rain in the river basin. With the establishment of permanent communities along the river's course, and the rise of an administrative/government structure, records exist recording floods in the North Saskatchewan for the past century. The Bighorn Dam, constructed in the early 1970s near Nordegg, Alberta, and the Brazeau Reservoir, constructed in the mid-1960s, have not reduced potential for flooding on the North Saskatchewan River. [1]
29 June 1915 cover of the Edmonton Daily Bulletin
The 1915 flood of the North Saskatchewan River was the most dramatic in the history of Edmonton (which then had a population of 60,000). On 28 June, the Edmonton Bulletin reported the river had risen "10 feet in as many hours." A frantic telegram from Rocky Mountain House alerted local authorities to the flood's arrival.[2] The Canadian Northern Railway had parked a number of train cars on the city's Low Level Bridge to protect against the "tons upon tons of debris" that had been pushed up against its piers, including a house swept away by the current.[3] Thousands of Edmonton residents watched the flood destroy lumber mills along the city's river valley.[3][4]
^Mustapha, A., Figliuzzi, S., Rickert, H., & Coles, G. (1981). History of Floods in the North Saskatchewan River Basin. Edmonton: Alberta Environment Environmental Engineering Support Services.
