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By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

dead in the water

Lacombe County turns down Gull Lake filtration project

Jan 10, 2020 | 2:41 PM

A project aimed at improving the quality of water in Gull Lake will not see the light of day.

The Gull Lake Watershed Society (GLWS) had requested funding from four municipalities to undertake the installation of a geotube filtration system.

Lacombe County council unanimously denied the ask for $160,000 over four years ($40,000 per) this week, putting the final nail in the project’s coffin. Ponoka County had been asked for the same and rejected it, while the summer villages of Parkland Beach and Gull Lake each approved their $8,000 portions.

However, those were contingent on Ponoka County and Lacombe County councils also saying yes.

“Firstly, it is unclear what degree of benefit to overall lake water quality the projects will provide,” writes Tim Timmons, County Manager. “Secondly, details regarding the scope of the projects are vague which leads us to question how much work can be completed with the amount of funding being requested.”

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Timmons also questioned whether there may be ongoing maintenance costs, and if so, would the supporting municipalities be obliged to contribute.

“Finally, while high quality water in Gull Lake is critically important to Lacombe County, we wonder about the appropriateness of municipalities, rather than the provincial government, being the funding agents of projects such as the ones proposed,” he concluded.

In Timmons’s words, the Gull Lake Watershed Society is concerned with nutrients entering the lake from major water streams around the lake. The filtration system would filter these streams before its content reaches Gull Lake.

The GLWS also proposed to acquire through purchase, lease or easement, key lands for the reestablishment of wetlands and buffer areas to clean the ‘nutrient load’ coming into the lake.

Timmons notes that a quarter section of land on the lake’s south end was recently subdivided, sold, and then designated as Environmental Reserve Easement, meaning it will be left to naturally filter water entering Gull Lake.