How Calgary’s Rivers Have Shaped the City

Calgary, at its heart, is a river city. We work and play on the waters of the Bow and Elbow, and The City of Calgary relies on their glacial flows to provide us with a constant and clean water supply.

But, despite being a born-and-bred Calgarian, I didn’t truly appreciate how special Calgary’s rivers are as I was growing up. At first glance, it seemed to me that Calgary didn’t have a river culture at all. I travelled to other cities, including Brisbane, London and Paris, where the riverbanks are fully urbanized with roads and bike paths, restaurants, markets and public transportation up and down the waterways. It seemed to me these cities provided a life oriented towards their rivers in a way that Calgary didn’t. Brisbane, in particular, has an amazing “boat bus” (a moniker that I use affectionately) called the CityCat, which I love to bring up in just about any conversation that I can.

Through my travels, I often marvelled at how other cities had absorbed their rivers into their identity and culture, and I wondered why Calgary hadn’t done the same.

From the Beginning

The settlement of Calgary began where the Bow and Elbow meet, in 1875, when the North-West Mounted Police established Fort Calgary at their confluence of the two rivers. For generations before that, the Indigenous people of the region used this area as a gathering place with both practical and sacred purposes.

In the 1800s, Calgary settlers used the Bow River to transport lumber from the Rockies, floating it downstream until it was picked up at Prince’s Island and used to build some of the first homes here.

The rivers have always been an important part of Calgary’s history, and the city probably wouldn’t be here without them.

Calgary has always relied on the Bow River for many of its resources, from industrial transportation to water power, says Frank Frigo, manager of environmental management in The City of Calgary’s Climate & Environment business unit.

“The river is very much integrated with [Calgary’s history], and the city has grown radially around the river,” says Frigo. And, while we haven’t urbanized our waterways the way many cities have, especially in Europe, that’s actually the source of our unique river culture. In Calgary, there is life — people, plants and animals — in the actual river, not just alongside it.

Throughout the year, the flows of the Bow and Elbow can range from slow trickles to rushing torrents, and that volatility makes it risky to build any infrastructure nearby. Building up the banks with concrete and guiding the river, like Paris has done with much of the Seine, isn’t a good option either. Much of the area along the rivers is designated as a flood plain, and seasonal excess water needs this broad expanse of flat bank to expand into — if it doesn’t have space, flooding becomes an even higher risk.

“Some wonderful turns of fate, historically, have allowed us to maintain a more naturalized environment adjacent to the river than other urban centres of comparable size,” says Frigo. Specifically, he notes the significant plots of land repurchased by The City through the 1960s and ’70s and turned into the riparian parks (ecological areas along the banks of a river) that we know today. That philosophy continues in The City of Calgary’s drought and flood-management program, which takes a natural approach to controlling the rivers’ ebbs and flows.

“The Riparian Management Strategy looks specifically at ensuring that we’re maintaining room for the river,” says Frigo. That means accounting for the ups and downs of our rivers by providing space for their natural movements rather than by trying to control the banks.

“[The rivers] are influenced by the steep alpine terrain and high elevation that produces rapid runoff when there’s rainfall and then drops to almost nothing,” says Frigo, and so The City’s drought and flood management has to account for that. Fish in the rivers also rely on areas of high and low flow — to swim and spawn, respectively.

Calgary’s relationship to its rivers is special. We fish in their cold waters, spend our afternoons floating leisurely down them with our friends, picnic on their banks, and bike and hike along miles of riverside pathways. We are also terribly aware of the damage rivers can bring.

Overall, we respect the rivers. Whether we walk alongside and admire them, float down them, or simply drink their waters, the rivers connect us all. That is what makes Calgary’s river culture undeniably unique and beautiful.

Surf’s Up, Cowtown!

When Calgarians think of their rivers, recreation is top of mind for most. It’s hard not to feel connected to the city when you’re floating down the Bow through downtown on a blow-up raft, along with hundreds of others doing the same. Calgarians love to float, fish and frolic along the banks, but surfing is probably the last form of recreation you think of in landlocked Calgary.

The 2013 flood brought an immense flow of sediment with it. Some of that sediment piled up underneath the Louise Bridge that crosses from Kensington into the downtown core, and, as the river returned to normal flow, a surfable wave formed.

“That wave changed everything for Calgary,” says David Rousseau, a board member for the Alberta River Surfing Association (ARSA) and wave consultant for Surf Anywhere, a Calgary-based company that consults on river wave building around the world.

“We went from a bunch of river surfers going into the mountains [to Lower Kananaskis River], to having an opportunity right here,” Rousseau says.

But sediment doesn’t tend to stay in place. The wave slowly declined, and it hasn’t been usable for surfing for the past two to three years. To replace it, ARSA and Surf Anywhere have proposed a major project — the Calgary River Wave Park.

The project would include an adjustable wave (which could even be fully eliminated, if needed), and possibly an urban beach for viewing and a deep slow pool for swimmers and waders. Surf Anywhere estimates the park will cost just under $10 million, and could generate up to $6 million a year in economic impact. A similar project that Surf Anywhere completed in Bend, Ore., generated $4.8 million in economic impact in 2017.

Economic impact is great, but this project could also help with flood mitigation. The gravel bar that formed the natural wave in 2013 is considered one of the highest risk zones for future flooding, and ARSA is in talks with The City of Calgary to combine the Calgary River Wave Park project with lowering the gravel bar.

The City’s 10th Street Gravel Bar Flood Mitigation Project website notes: “There did not appear to be any technical, environmental, regulatory or other reasons to exclude a recreational wave from the project’s design. As a result, the recreational wave’s feasibility will continue to be reviewed as part of Detailed Design for the 10 Street Gravel Bar project.”

The project aligns with The City’s Downtown Strategy. If all goes to plan, construction of the Calgary River Wave Park could be finished by 2028. “Imagine having a world-class, adjustable wave in Calgary’s downtown,” says Rousseau. “You’ve got the city background, with the turquoise blue waters, and boom! A wave. The cultural impact, the economic impact, the safety impact, not just for surfers but for the tens of thousands of people that use the river every year. And the marketing impact? All of a sudden, Calgary is a surfing city. Now we’re talking.”

Both Sides Now

Living by the river comes with its benefits, of course, but it also comes with plenty of challenges.

There is no more obvious example than flooding. Visually, we can see the destruction that flooding rivers can cause in a matter of days.

During the 2013 flood, the Bow’s flow peaked at eight times its regular rate and the Elbow’s at more than 12 times. The floods caused $6 billion in damage across Southern Alberta. But the rivers’ volatilities affect Calgarians in many more unseen ways.

The City’s Flood Resilience Plan strikes a delicate balance between natural strategies — using bioengineering like plants and rock structures — to restore riparian areas and stabilize the bank erosion, and larger mitigation strategies like upstream dams to control flow on a larger scale.

Throw in recreational activities and biological sustainability on top of that, and the problem of managing the rivers only gets more complex.

“We’re very conscious of the recreational activities because we want people to love the river, but there’s a point of loving the river to death,” says Frigo. “The [Calgary River Wave Park] project is a great example [of finding that balance] because one of the things that’s good for the biology of the river is having a wide range of depths and velocities.”

Frigo and his department aim to strike a balance where fish still exist peacefully, plants can still grow and people can enjoy the river responsibly.

Calgary’s water systems are a masterclass in maintaining that balance.

According to Frigo, Calgarians use an average of 200 litres of water per capita per day for personal use, down from around 750 litres in the mid 1970s. As a result, we are affecting the natural flows of the river less, showing that maintaining balance in the river is important to Calgarians.

River Developments

Calgary’s rivers and their banks may be unusually natural for a large urban centre, but that’s not to say that we haven’t tried to build up our riverside infrastructure.

One of the most recognizable examples of this is Eau Claire Market. Opened in 1993, the shopping centre was billed as a riverside shopping destination, akin to Vancouver’s Granville Island.

Ultimately, a lack of use sent the shopping centre into a years-long decline, culminating in its demolition earlier this year.

But a shining example of a successful riverside business is located close to where the Market was — River Café. Owner Sal Howell opened the restaurant in 1991, and it has grown to become one of Calgary’s best restaurants, gaining national and international recognition.

Howell took over the building when it was just a small concession stand in Prince’s Island Park, and rebuilt it into the restaurant with fishing lodge decor to reflect the story of the Bow River. “If you look at the walls, it’s a collection of fly-fishing artifacts and cabin treasures, of sorts,” says Howell. “It’s a 100-per cent direct response to the opportunity of the location and the proximity to the river.”

If River Café is any indication of the city’s river culture, it demonstrates that Calgarians don’t want shiny new infrastructure that is near, but separate from the river — they want something that reflects the river’s natural character.

“Many a pitch has landed on my desk saying, ‘Why don’t you build a River Café in my development over here?’ but it wouldn’t belong there — just here,” Howell affirms.

Having a business so close to the river comes with challenges, though. The restaurant’s location on an island that doesn’t allow cars makes it difficult to maintain a steady stream of customers, especially during the colder months. And so, River Café closes during the month of January.

During the 2013 floods, the high water level made it into the lower floor of the restaurant, forcing Howell to shut down River Café for a period. The water levels rose so quickly that much of the restaurant’s equipment and a large portion of its wine cellar could not be saved.

Now Howell monitors the river’s flow rates almost daily during flood season, trying to be prepared for a sudden change of pace. “The restaurant has a rhythm, and the river has a rhythm,” she says. “With the seasons of the year, that all plays together, and we’re more in tune with the river because of it.

“Despite the devastation, that was a bonding experience for the people here at that time. We’ll never forget those moments.”

A River Culture of Our Own

A 2018 survey said that 88 per cent of Calgarians value and use our riparian parks and appreciate our rivers — in part, according to Frigo, because of their biodiversity and ecological functions and the aesthetics that come along with them.

Calgary has grown around these natural areas, and our river culture has grown around that. In a 2024 TEDx Talk given by Frigo titled The Bow River: Friend and Teacher, he describes the river as a connector — not only physically, flowing from the Rocky Mountain glaciers through Canada until it reaches Hudson Bay — but philosophically, as well.

During floods, Calgarians come together and work to protect our city. During drought, Calgarians work together to reduce their water usage.

Calgarians feel a sense of pride in our waters, and we’re lucky that our rivers are natural and crystal clear so we can enjoy activities like rafting, surfing, swimming and fishing.

Frigo takes his kids rafting every year, making sure to point out the interconnectedness of it all. “I tell [my daughter], ‘When you turn on the tap, this is where it comes from. And when it rains and water comes off our lot, this where it eventually goes.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Howell took the River Café team on a canoe trip down the Bow River, arriving at Prince’s Island. “We took this trip and celebrated the location we have, it was a great little reminder of what we fell in love with,” he says. ” You don’t get to experience the city from the water very often and after what we went through during the pandemic, you start to think about what really matters.”

Rousseau visits the river weekly, winter included. “It’s a very important part of my life. Both through surfing and giving back to the community by teaching people who want to get into the sport [of river surfing].”

And, as for myself, I’ve also come to appreciate how Calgary’s river culture is unique to our city — reflecting us, but also changing us.

In a way, Calgary’s relationship with its rivers is one of “live and let live.” The rivers teach us to go with the flow, so to speak — to choose our battles, and to work with nature, rather than push back against it. That’s a lesson we can all stand to learn.

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