A 2008 plan put the costs of the pipeline to bring water from the Peace River to Grande Prairie and other communities at $280 million, but officials say action is needed
It’s not the arid south, but the northwest of the province that’s currently facing the most serious water supply challenges, says former provincial agriculture minister Walter Paszkowski.
“At one time we had abundant water, now it’s become a bit of a challenge,” said Paszkowski, now economic development manager for the County of Grande Prairie. “It could very quickly become a crisis.”
While Peace Country has abundant water resources, population growth, changing weather patterns, and distribution issues are prompting his county to consider a major pipeline project to get water to where it’s needed, he said.
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The city of Grande Prairie grew by 17 per cent between 2006 and 2011, the town of Sexsmith grew by 23 per cent, and it’s forecast the region’s population will double in the next 30 years. But water demand is expected to grow even more quickly — 40 per cent in the next 10 years. And it’s coming at a time when water supplies are diminishing due to a prolonged drought, said Paszkowski.
“We’ve had only four years of higher-than-normal rainfall since 1991,” he said.
The usual response, building a reservoir, isn’t an option because the South Peace area has a layer of bentonite clay, which makes the subsoil unstable. Where engineers can find bedrock, it’s sandstone that’s not strong enough to anchor a dam.
Meanwhile, water levels in wells have been dropping, many by as much as five metres, forcing people to drill deeper. Officials have considered tapping into deep aquifers, but their mineral levels are too high for potable water.
Water shortages are also an issue for many livestock producers. Dugout levels have dropped considerably during the last two decades and officials are increasingly worried about fecal coliform contamination from migrating waterfowl and other wildlife.
Many producers experiencing problems with dugouts have called the province’s emergency water pumping service to ask the agency for help in finding water, said Brent Paterson, executive director of Alberta Agriculture’s Irrigation and Farm Water Division.
Typically, their efforts were fruitless, he said.
“There was nothing there,” said Paterson. “It really hit home to us that longterm, dependence on dugouts is not sustainable.”
Residents of Grande Prairie are also becoming increasingly concerned.
In recent years, the Wapiti River, the city’s water source, has looked much like southern rivers in late summer, with sandbars and water flowing in only a small part of the riverbed. Winter flows are even lower, a concern for the health of the aquatic ecosystem. Farther east, the Smoky River has adequate water levels, but it shares its headwaters with the Wapiti and is seeing similar flow patterns.
The limited availability of water has become an economic handicap for the region, said Paszkowski. In little more than a year, two major potential developments have located elsewhere, one outside Canada, because his region couldn’t assure investors of the water volume they wanted, he said.
Action is needed, he said.
“It’s time to plan, develop schedules, and look at financing,” said Paszkowski. “Water doesn’t flow the day after you decide to do this. We have to plan ahead.”
The cost of developing a regional pipeline isn’t prohibitive, according to Paterson. The challenge to piping water from the Peace River is the 1,000-foot lift needed to get water to the level of the surrounding land. Paterson’s group is reviewing a 2008 plan for piping water from the Peace River to Grande Prairie and other communities in the area.
“We have to look at all the potential requirements again to make sure we build in enough capacity into the system,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to build a system with extra capacity than add to it later.”
The plan envisions a main line from Dunvegan Bridge over the Peace running south to Grande Prairie, with branch lines serving areas to the east and west, with water flowing by 2017. After use, treated water would be returned to smaller rivers in the region that eventually join the Peace. Paterson said the river could handle the water diversion.
“Even a four-foot pipe pulling water out of the Peace would be insignificant compared to its flows,” he said.
He’s optimistic too about the cost of the project.
“Costs for the 2008 plan were around $280 million,” he said. “That price may still be in the ballpark, I’ve seen some very good construction deals lately.”
A pipeline would also create “huge economic opportunities,” he added.
