Residents say proposal could be 'disaster' for Last Mountain Lake

The Crooked and Round Lake Flood Committee says a proposed project that would divert water away from the Quill Lakes could be harmful to the Qu'Appelle lake system.

The group helda public meeting Wednesday night to discuss theWater Security Agency's proposed Kutawagan Diversion Project.

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"We want a unanimous decision by the property owners of the valley and we will join with Calling Lakes as a united front for all of the lakes in the chain," said Cherylnn Walters, chair of the committee, ahead of Wednesday's meeting.

"To cease all further activity until there has been full impact studies, full consultation with the property owners ... and an informed decision about how we can address the Quill Lake issue."

Walters says nearly everyone in attendance, which she says was more than 100 people,agreed to submit a petition to the legislature asking that the project not start until various studies are completed.

Theissue is record high water levels on Big Quill Lake and Little Quill Lake, caused by heavy precipitation and run off, and subsequent flooding.

"We're particularly concerned about the potential impacts on the highway, the railway, the farmland, and obviously the saline water going into Last Mountain Lake," said Patrick Boyle, spokesperson for theWater Security Agency (WSA).

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Although Walters saida solution is long overdue, she said the Kutawagan Diversion Project is not the right one.

It would see the Kutawagan Creek diverted away from Big Quill Lake.

The WSA said this would reduce the flow of water into Big Quill Lake, while possibly reducing the flooding of farmland, highways, and the overflow of saline lake water into Last Mountain Lake.

But the Crooked and Round Lake Flood Committee says Kutawagan Creek is saline water itself, so it would be harmful to the very lake the WSA says it's trying to protect.

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"It will be an absolute disaster because they're trying to push through a Band-Aid treatment for the Quill Lakes," said Walters. "It's going to push the disaster further down the stream."

Boyle said the salinity of the creek, which is roughly 2,400 millimetres per litre, is equal to what can be seen in Last Mountain Lake, which fluctuates in salinity.

"If we don't do anything and [Big Quill Lake]overflows naturally, there'll be 8,000 milligrams per litre of total dissolved solids of natural overflow that'll go into Last Mountain Lake."

Consultation questioned

Walters is also concerned with how this project is unfolding.

She said there has been a lack of consultation with residents in the area by the WSA.

"You can't just ram this down our throats like this," she said. "They have to follow proper procedure and we have to have the right to a voice and to speak."

Boyle said the WSA met with stakeholders and local government officials from the lakes last week, and it's hosting four upcoming open houses for people in the area.

Walters was also concerned about a tender she saw on the internet for the project.

The tender, which has been commissioned to Golder Associates, was for an engineer to look at the concept and provide design options.

Boyle said the WSA will consider that information, as well as its consultation with the public, before making a decision on the project in the fall.

"We're looking at it," he said. "But it's still, at this point, a potential project."