Tribunal begins hearings on Buffalo Lake scheme

The Edmonton Journal, Tuesday, May 21,1991 A7 Tribunal begins hearings on Buffalo Lake scheme Premier owns 7- acre parcel near shore of lake RICHARD HELM Journal Staff Writer Edmonton A plan to raise and stabilize the water level of Buffalo Lake, near Premier Don Getty's home, faces its final public hearings, beginning today. Twenty- two groups and individu­als have registered to speak before a government- appointed tribunal which will hold the two- day hear­ing at Alix, 60 km northeast of Red Deer and just a short drive from the lake. Don Thorne, the former mayor of Lacombe who was selected by Environment Minister Ralph Klein to chair the board, said he expects another dozen submissions will be read into the record. The $ 13- million water- stabili­zation scheme has had an on- again, off- again history because of con­flicting environmental assessments. The project would involve pump­ing water from the Red Deer River through a pipeline and canal to Alix Lake, and then via an upgraded local creek into Buffalo Lake. Its purpose is to improve the rec­reational capacity of the lake, whose water level has fluctuated for years, and provide an assured water supply to the villages of Alix and Mirror. Although he is a businessman from nearby Lacombe, Thorne says he is " sqeaky clean" and has no in­terest in whether the lake project proceeds or not. " I'm straight down the middle, I'm taking the view that would be expected of a chairman of such a hearing," Thorne said. " The financial impact on La­combe would be so minimal; it wouldn't be noticed at all. It doesn't put me into any sense of conflict whatsoever." A private consultant's study re­leased in February estimated the economic benefits of the lake plan at about $ 2 million less than the project's costs. The study by Environmental Management Associates was an update of an earlier report which gave the plan environmental approval. The cost- benefit analysis in the study indicated most of the benefits, such as increased prop­erty value because of a closer waterfront, would go to the present and future cottage owners near the lake. Getty, who built a hilltop home a few kilometres from the lake after winning the Stettler byelection last year, has since purchased a seven-acre subdivided parcel of land near the south shore of the lake. The Environmental Management Associates' plan reversed an earlier environmental study by finding that water diversion is not likely to stimulate algae growth in the lake, as had been feared. When Klein appointed the three-member review board in March, he said the hearings would try to ad­here to the guidelines used by the province's new Natural Resources Conservation Board. Thorne said he plans to keep the hearings " extremely informal" and expects the board will start compil­ing its report within two days of their conclusion. He hopes to re­port to Klein by mid- June. The scheduled presenters in­clude councillors and officials from surrounding communities, includ­ing Stettler, Rockland Bay, Rochon Sands, Alix and Mirror. Martha Kostuch, an environmentalist, says she doubts she'll be dwelling on the environ­mental drawbacks of the proposal. She said she has questions about the whole review process and the way in which the project was resur­rected. " My general feeling is that it's a foolish project," Kostuch said.