Photo: Thank you for visiting my page from Canada · CC BY 2.0Rocky View County is on Canada’s flood inventory: 6 listed, led by Government of Alberta
Little of the land around Rocky View County has burned: 0.1% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.002% a year. Seismic risk in Rocky View County sits near the middle: $0.024 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. About as many homes carry radon around Rocky View County as elsewhere, 8.1% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Rocky View County a grade of B+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Rocky View County’s hazards
For Rocky View County, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Rocky View County faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Rocky View County grades B+ for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Rocky View County’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #433 of 474 in Alberta and #1,360 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Rocky View County: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km
Past fire around Rocky View County’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Rocky View County’s 0.002% is in the low band.
Forest thickens with distance from Rocky View County: 6.1% of the land within 5 km, 17% 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
Rocky View County ranks 77th of the 478 towns in Alberta for burn rate, at 0.002% a year; Wainwright leads with 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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, Rocky View County reads low, with 92% of them; only 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.
Rocky View County is on the flood map inventory: 6 studies, latest by Government of Alberta
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Rocky View County: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
6 studies on the inventory touch Rocky View County, the newest Government of Alberta’s from 2025, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bow and Elbow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2025 | final |
| Highwood River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2025 | final |
| Siksika Bow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
| Upper Bow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
| Nose and West Nose Creek Flood Hazard Study | Government of Alberta | 2012 | final |
| Airdrie Flood Hazard Study | Government of Alberta | 2006 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, but Rocky View County has one.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The studies touching Rocky View County lean recent: 4 of 6 date from the 2020s, the first from the 2000s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Rocky View County.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Rocky View 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 Rocky View County: $0.024 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Earthquake losses in Rocky View County, $0.024 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (0.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Rocky View County’s $0.024 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.
Neither high nor low for Canada: 54% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Rocky View 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 Rocky View 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 Rocky View County: 8.1% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Calgary Health Region
Near the middle for radon: Rocky View County’s area 8.1%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Rocky View County is ordinary for towns in Alberta: 8.1%, 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.
Between 5% and 10% of tests over the guideline: Rocky View County, and 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% are higher.
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 Rocky View 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).
Where to get warnings in Rocky View County
Alerts for Rocky View 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 Rocky View 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)
How Rocky View County’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky View County | Low | $0.024 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Rocky Ridge 8,419 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Royal Oak 12,343 · 3.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Tuscany 19,986 · 4.0 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Arbour Lake 10,454 · 5.1 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Scenic Acres 8,026 · 5.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Citadel 10,196 · 6.1 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Rocky View County (low); Rocky Ridge comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Rocky View County faces
Practical steps for Rocky View County’s 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?
- 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. 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 Rocky View County.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Rocky View County floods.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Rocky View County sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Rocky View County’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Rocky View County
How big is the earthquake risk in Rocky View County?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Rocky View County’s buildings lose $0.024 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Rocky View County at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Rocky View County’s band is low, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is Rocky View County’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Rocky View County’s Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Rocky View County flood?
Rocky View County’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is radon a problem in Rocky View County?
8.1% of the 86 homes Health Canada tested around Rocky View County topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
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).