Photo: Erik Lizee · Public domainClearwater County is on Canada’s flood inventory: 2 listed, led by Government of Alberta
Burn scars are few around Clearwater County, with 0.2% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.004% a year). For earthquakes Clearwater County is middling, $0.020 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Clearwater County’s survey area, 7.5% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Clearwater County a grade of B+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Clearwater County’s hazards
For Clearwater County, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Clearwater County faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Clearwater County: B+
Two inputs always count for Clearwater County, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #262 of 474 in Alberta and #898 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Clearwater County: 0.2% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0.1% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Clearwater County’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Clearwater County is 0.004%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The nearer ring around Clearwater County is less wooded (30% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (46%).
Shares of land within 5 and 25 km of populated blocks: burned at least once in 1986–2025 (CWFIS burned-area composite), forest fuel and grass (fire behaviour fuel types, 2026, 250 m grid).
Burn rate a year, towns in Alberta · highest of 478
The land around Clearwater County burns at 0.004% a year, the 69th highest rate of 478 towns in Alberta; Wainwright tops it at 1.43%.
Each bar: the yearly average share of land within 25 km of a town’s homes that burned, 1986–2025 (CWFIS); the seven highest towns of 2,500 people or more.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Clearwater County burns, but slower than in the 7.5% above it.
Bands of the yearly burn rate: low under 0.05%, moderate under 0.25%, high under 1%, very high 1% or more; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System: National Burned Area Composite 1986–2025 and fire behaviour fuel types (2026), Natural Resources Canada. Measured within 25 km and 5 km of each populated dissemination area; past fire, not a forecast.
Flooding around Clearwater County is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Government of Alberta
Flood studies whose area touches Clearwater County, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The newest of 2 studies covering Clearwater County is Government of Alberta’s, from 2024; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Mountain House Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
| Upper Red Deer River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study sets Clearwater County apart in Alberta, where 46% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Clearwater County.
The inventory’s own caution (NRCan): “The Canada Flood Map (CFM) does not include every flood hazard map in Canada and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. It should not be relied upon as the official source of flood mapping information. Furthermore, if a map appears to be missing, this does not necessarily mean that the area has never been mapped. For the official version of a map, updated information, or confirmation of applicable regulations, please contact the local authority responsible for flood mapping.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Ordinary seismic risk in Clearwater County: $0.020 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.020 per $1,000, Clearwater County’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.7 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Clearwater County’s $0.020 tops the median in Alberta, $0.013, though Black Diamond reaches $0.048.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Middle of the pack: 64% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Clearwater County.
Each column: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more in that range of yearly loss per $1,000 (NRCan, 2022).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Clearwater County is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon about average around Clearwater County: 7.5% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
At 7.5% over the guideline, the area around Clearwater County is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Clearwater County is ordinary for towns in Alberta: 7.5%, beside a median of 7.5%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Clearwater County is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
Each bar: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more whose survey area had that share of tests over 200 Bq/m³.
A low area share in Clearwater County doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the David Thompson Regional Health Authority
Where to get warnings in Clearwater County
Alerts for Clearwater County come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| Alert | What it means |
|---|---|
| Warning | Severe weather is happening or about to: act now. |
| Watch | Conditions favour severe weather: be ready. |
| Advisory | Weather that is less severe but could disrupt the day. |
| Special weather statement | Unusual weather worth knowing about. |
| Special air quality statement | Poor air, often wildfire smoke. |
Evacuation orders for Clearwater County come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Clearwater County
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearwater County | Low | $0.020 | 7.5% | Yes |
| Rocky Mountain House 8,144 · 14 km | Low | $0.017 | 7.5% | Yes |
Clearwater County’s low band tops its neighbours; Rocky Mountain House is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Clearwater County faces
What to do about the hazards Clearwater County faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Test for three months in winter.
- Over 200 Bq/m³: fix it.
- Kits are cheap; pros test too.
- Never drive through floodwater.
- Move papers and medicines upstairs.
- Ask whether your street is mapped.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. For Clearwater County, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Clearwater County is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Clearwater County’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Clearwater County.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Clearwater County
How is Clearwater County’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Clearwater County B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Clearwater County?
About $0.020 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Clearwater County.
Is radon a problem in Clearwater County?
Around Clearwater County, 107 survey homes were tested and 7.5% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Clearwater County at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.2% of the land around Clearwater County since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Clearwater County flood?
There is flood mapping for Clearwater County on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Seismic risk: Natural Resources Canada. Radon: Health Canada. Wildfire: Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. Flood studies: Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
Sources: NRCan, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model 2022 · Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes · CWFIS, National Burned Area Composite and FBP fuel types · NRCan, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).