View looking west over the Ghost dam

The Ghost dam today is an increasingly popular recreational area for boaters and fishermen in Calgary and provides valuable hydroelectric power to the region.

Many believe that dams on the Bow River such as this one and the one at Seebe have effectively controlled flooding in Calgary. However, these dams are too far upstream to control the majority of the drainage basin and too small to control the amount of water produced by very high spring or summer runoff, say from a 100-year flood. In addition, these reservoirs are commonly full during times of highest flood risk. In the flood of 1932, the newly built Glenmore reservoir overflowed, even though it had been empty before the flood.

-Nathan Kneisel-

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