Gary Franz, a co-chair with a working group of municipalities in southern Alberta hoping to address water security and flood prevention, addresses Monday's meeting of Medicine Hat city council.--News Photo Collin Gallant
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Medicine Hat is being asked to finally start contributing cash to a 10-year-old general agreement to share costs of building regional water and flood management projects.
That would require the city to pay a share of seven reservoir expansions and spillway developments over the next 10 to 20 years between Lethbridge and Taber that were drawn up after overland flooding in the early 2010s.
So far, projects including the spillway from Rattlesnake Reservoir and another near Taber have begun with six other municipalities contributing capital grants.
“Up until now, (Medicine Hat) has been a committee member, but we need financial support to get those projects done,” Gary Franz, a co-chair of the group, told council Monday.
“The partners have contributed 30 per cent (in total) to get those projects started. I’m here to talk about the last four.”
Franz, a Hat-area farmer and former head of the St. Mary’s Irrigation District, and fellow co-chair Merrill Harris, the reeve of the MD of Taber, told a city committee last month the group is preparing to formalize its structure and funding model early in 2024.
That could mean city funds might not be needed for several budget cycles, but eventually the local share could be in the $10-million range.
“The scope of the projects is so huge that no one municipality can do them on their own,” said Hat Coun. Alison Van Dyke, who sits on the committee. “The plan is to move ahead project by project.”
The final phases of the Horsefly Spillway near Taber will be tendered in 2024, and upgrades are underway at the Sauder (Rattlesnake) reservoir spillway (at full cost to SMRID).
Left on the priority project list to to safeguard the district’s main canal, add additional supply or manage flood waters with an expansion at Murray Lake and new dry dam on Paradise Creek in Cypress County.
Both projects feed the Seven Persons Creek, which flooded in the city during wet springs in 2010 and 2011.
After the 2013 flood however, Medicine Hat city council has voted twice to support the regional projects in principle, but to direct all local “flood prevention” spending and grant applications to address threats from the river.
Two council veterans defended that stance Monday, and said that with river-facing protections in place, regional work deserved consideration.
“Our own berm network cost $40 million,” said Coun. Darren Hirsch. “(The group’s projects are) in our backyard, so it’s something that we will have to look at.”
Coun. Robert Dumanowski said the projects could be worthwhile from a public safety and economic development standpoint, but could be a hard sell to city residents.
“Outside of goodwill, and being good partners, how do we justify to our ratepayers, in tight economic times, contributing real dollars to these projects that might take decades to complete,” he asked.
Partners including the towns of Taber and Coaldale, counties of Lethbridge, Forty Mile and Cypress, will require a formal cost-sharing agreement for portions of projects along the entire length of the irrigation system that ends in Medicine Hat.
“All the members are committed, but there’s a question of whether they’ve paid,” said Harris.
The remaining four projects could cost an estimated $70 million, of which the group would need to provide about $20 million.
But, six other partners funded the full share plus cost overruns on Horsefly Spillway. There, the federal and provincial governments combined to provide 40 per cent of the initial budget.
Medicine Hat would not be required to offer funds until federal and provincial grants are secured. There is no tentative schedule, but the group wants to prioritize and be ready to move ahead quickly if needed, said Harris.
