Update: The Water Security Agency defines fresh water as 3000 parts per million (ppm). Kutawagan Creek is 2400 ppm, on the higher side of the Last Mountain Lake range, which can be anywhere between 1500 and 2400 ppm.
REGINA BEACH – Saskatchewan’s salt water Quill Lakes have record water levels. They’ve risen 6.5 metres in the last ten years.
Now, for the first time ever, there’s a risk that salt water could flow into Last Mountain Lake.
The solution the Water Security Agency is putting forward, though, comes with its own set of problems.
“If the water comes up too high on the shoreline, it puts pressure on the shore,” explained Janis Campbell, a concerned Regina Beach resident.
Some homes and cabins at Last Mountain lake are also unstable – a result of flooding in 2011 and 2014, so residents are concerned about a plan that will see more water flow into the lake.
“We do notice any influx of water because we’re having difficulties with the slumping, the landsliding that is affecting people who have built their retirement homes, for example,” Campbell said.
However, there might not be a choice: the Quill Lakes are overflowing. Farmers lands have been contaminated with the lake’s salty water and highways have been submerged.
If the lakes rise another metre, salt water could pour into Last Mountain Lake, threatening fish populations and tourism, so the province will redirect fresh water from the Kutawagan Creek, which now flows into Big Quill Lake into Last Mountain. Regina Beach Mayor Cameron Hart is concerned the outflow won’t be able to keep up.
“The reason that it’s a problem is that the land is so flat from here to the Manitoba border that it doesn’t run out fast enough,” he said.
“Diverting fresh water is not a cheap and easy process. Some of the other diversion processes have a price tag over $100 million dollars,” said Dale Hjertass, a Water Security Agency spokesperson.
Redirecting Kutawagan Creek shouldn’t cost that much, and is the most cost-effective – even if it isn’t the most satisfactory for everyone.
The Water Security Agency are holding a series of open houses:
August 25th 1 – 8pm: Bulyea Community Hall
August 26th 1 – 8pm: Regina Beach Memorial Hall
August 27th 1 – 8pm: Wynyard Civic Centre
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