Cottagers should pay for Buffalo Lake work, Gull Lake officials say

Cottagers should pay for Buffalo Lake work, Gull Lake officials say DON THOMAS ^ 1 Journal Staff Writer ^ ( Edmonton Some cottage owners near Red Deer say Buffalo Lake property owners should help pay to stabilize the lake. Gull Lake cottagers say they had to pay for a 1976 project to stabi­lize their lake. Cottagers and developers who stand to benefit from the $ 13- million Buffalo Lake stabiliza­tion project should share in its cost, says Bill Halpen, former mayor of Gull Lake summer village. Annual operating costs for the Buffalo Lake project in Premier Don Getty's Stettler constituency will be about $ 250,000. It's not known if local residents will con­tribute any money. Alberta Environment spent about $ 1 million on earth work and pumping equipment to raise the level of Gull Lake, about 20 km northeast of Red Deer. Local municipalities were re­quired to share in the operating costs under the Environment De­partment's lake stabilization program, says Halpen. Gull Lake village had to pay about $ 5,000 a year and Lacombe County paid more than that through a special tax on local properties, says Larry Waud, coun­ty reeve and administrator for the summer village. Water was pumped into Gull Lake for about three years before torrential rains in 1982 restored the level naturally.