Buffalo Lake tap turned off - for now

Local RED DEER ADVOCATE Saturday, June 7, 1997 Bi Buffalo Lake tap turned off — for now By BRENDA KOSSOWAN Advocate staff Pumping is stalled at Buffalo Lake while landowners scrap with the water management team. Now into its second year of pump­ing, the Buffalo Lake Water Manage­ment Project is expected to create flood­ing potential on 72 separate parcels of land alongside the lake. The project, funded by the Public Lands Department, is supposed to sta­bilize water levels in the lake by pump­ing water from the Red Deer River via Parlby Creek. Angus Braseth, chairman of the Buffalo Lake Management Team, said the stabilization project has made it necessary to purchase the land, be­cause there is a chance it could flood. Only 61 of the landowners have signed purchase agreements. The 11 remain­ing have refused, Braseth said Thurs­day. Six of them have started legal in­quiries, including a demand that no pumping take place, he said. Braseth said he could not comment about the stall because of the legal pro­ceedings now under way. But he did say pumping is expected to begin shortly. It's an unpleasant situation. It will be resolved, one way or another," said Braseth. Pumping began last spring and has reached target levels set out in the sta­bilization plan, he said. A manufacturer's defect in the main pump forced the management team to use the smaller, auxiliary pump throughout the season last year. The main pump, capable of twice the work of its smaller partner, has been repaired and is now ready for testing. Braseth said he is anxious to start the pump up, to ensure that it is work­ing properly. The Buffalo Lake Management Team was established when Peter Lougheed was premier, and set in mo­tion under his successor, Don Getty. Al­berta Environmental Protection provid­ed $ 9.5 million in funding for the pro­ject. Buffalo Lake lies between Erskine and Bashaw. Water levels in the lake have been declining since 1910.