Spring came quickly to Alberta and because of that, flood risk in the valley due to snowpack has been greatly reduced.

The Town of Drumheller works closely with Alberta Environment and personnel from the Dickson Dam. This includes daily updates about reservoir levels, snowpack and outlet flows. On May 17, staff from the Town of Drumheller attended an emergency preparedness orientation.

Drumheller CAO Darryl Drohomerski tells The Mail they learned that much of the snowpack feeding the Red Deer River is already in the Dickson Dam.

    “We were quite surprised considering all the snowpack we had that almost all of it is already in the reservoir,” said Drohomerski.

He says that there has been an undercurrent in the community concerned about potential flooding, especially following the event the valley witnessed in April as the Rosebud River swelled its banks.

Drohomerski learned from the dam operators that the melt came about three weeks earlier than the average of previous years, and the concern is not necessarily with flooding, but retaining enough volume to satisfy water requirements for the remainder of the year. Currently, the reservoir is sitting at about 60 per cent capacity.

He explains that while part of the function of the dam is flood attenuation, the primary function of the dam is to assure a reliable year-round water supply. While many believe that the water is retained in the reservoir for recreation, he says that is near the bottom of the list for benefits.

While Drohomerski takes some comfort in knowing the melt has occurred, there is always a risk of flooding from heavy precipitation.

“You never say never, anything can happen,” he said, adding that the town continues to be prepared for high water situations.

  To monitor the Red Deer River watershed, please go to www.Rivers.Alberta.ca and select the following locations:

• Skoki Lodge and Limestone Ridge for snow pillow reports of how much snow is in the mountains of the Red Deer River watershed

• Gleniffer Reservoir shows the level of the reservoir behind the Dickson Dam

• Dickson Dam outlet shows the flow leaving the reservoir

• Red Deer River at Drumheller shows the water level and flow at the Gordon Taylor Bridge.

Alberta Minister of Municipal Affairs Shayne Anderson, says the federal government’s move to purchase the Trans Mountain Pipeline means people are heading back to work.
On Tuesday, May 29, the federal government announced it would be purchasing the pipeline as associated assets from Kinder-Morgan for $4.5 billion. Anderson is supportive of the move.
“There are people who are back to work today,” Anderson tells The Mail. “We think in the next couple of weeks there will be shovels back in the ground, but already there are people looking after logistics to get us rolling, so we are excited about that.”
“This is a major step forward for working people in Alberta and across Canada. There is still some work to be done but it is a great step.”
The leader of the United Conservative party Jason Kenney issued a statement following the announcement and calls the decision costly.
“While we continue to support the much-needed Trans Mountain project, it’s the catastrophic failure of the Alberta NDP and the Trudeau Liberals that caused Kinder-Morgan to pull out and forced today’s costly decision,” he states.
He adds it does not add any certainty that the project will be completed, or boost investor confidence.
“Everyone that was opposed is still opposed. The law and constitution still need to be enforced. And investor confidence in Canada will be further shaken,” said Kenney.
Anderson believes that the purchase helps clear some of the hurdles standing in the way of the project.
“Because the feds stepped in, there is more certainty in the investments and it is also basically a shield for them going forward from any other political interference by the BC government because it is a federal jurisdiction,” Anderson said.
He explains that Alberta is making a contribution to the project.
“Alberta is investing up to $2 billion to an indemnity pool, and that is to help ensure the project goes ahead,” he said. “How it works is the investments will be payable once the oil begins to flow through the pipeline. At that point Alberta’s investment will be converted to equity, ensuring our value for that investment,” he said.
Kenney is open to this suggestion, only if the government is open about the commitment.
“We are prepared, in principle, to support the Alberta government’s commitment of up to $2 billion in funds to indemnify the Trans Mountain operator from delays caused by political or legal uncertainty. However, we will ask the provincial government for more details about the nature of this commitment, and demand full transparency on this and any other costs borne by taxpayers,” said Kenney.