Photo: Vanstrat · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazard risk in Eaux Claires is lower than in 98% of Canadian towns
Around Eaux Claires, wildfire is practically absent from the record: 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 1.4% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Eaux Claires grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Eaux Claires’s hazards
For Eaux Claires, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Eaux Claires faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Eaux Claires grades A+ for hazard risk
For Eaux Claires, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #11 of 474 in Alberta and #22 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 73 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Eaux Claires has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Eaux Claires’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put Eaux Claires at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Forest fuel is scarce around Eaux Claires: 0% of the land within 5 km, 0.4% within 25 km.
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
Of the 478 towns in Alberta, 386 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Eaux Claires among them; Wainwright leads at 1.43% a year.
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.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), Eaux Claires is in the low band, with a burn rate of zero to three decimals; 7.5% rank higher.
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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Eaux Claires
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Eaux Claires: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
There is no study for Eaux Claires on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Eaux Claires; in Alberta, 46% of towns have one, below Canada’s 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 Eaux Claires.
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.”
Low seismic risk in Eaux Claires: $0.013 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.013 per $1,000, Eaux Claires carries 0.4 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Eaux Claires shares its earthquake risk numbers with the rest of the city of Edmonton.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Eaux Claires’ $0.013 is close to the median in Alberta, $0.013; Black Diamond is highest at $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.
Earthquakes cost less around Eaux Claires than in 75% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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 Eaux Claires 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).
Little radon around Eaux Claires: 1.4% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Capital Health
Eaux Claires’ area, at 1.4%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Alberta (7.5%), the area around Eaux Claires has fewer high tests: 1.4%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Under 5% puts Eaux Claires with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% have more high tests.
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.
Whatever Eaux Claires’ area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Eaux Claires
Alerts for Eaux Claires 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 Eaux Claires 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)
How Eaux Claires’ neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eaux Claires | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Lorelei 4,380 · 0.7 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Belle Rive 3,946 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Lago Lindo 2,963 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Beaumaris 4,125 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Baturyn 4,796 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Mayliewan 4,259 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
Eaux Claires’ low band tops its neighbours; Lorelei is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Eaux Claires faces
Practical steps for Eaux Claires’ hazards, most pressing first.
- 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Eaux Claires without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Eaux Claires’ included.
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Eaux Claires until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Eaux Claires.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Eaux Claires
Is Eaux Claires at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Eaux Claires since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
How big is the earthquake risk in Eaux Claires?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Eaux Claires’ buildings lose $0.013 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Eaux Claires?
1.4% of the 73 homes Health Canada tested around Eaux Claires topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How is Eaux Claires’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Eaux Claires grades A+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Eaux Claires flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Eaux Claires (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
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).