Muriel Creek has been a sore spot in the MD of Bonnyville when it comes to drainage, and they're hoping 2019 will change that.
Over the years, flooding has been a concern in the Charlotte Lake, Barreyre Lake, and Muriel Creek systems. In 2018, an aerial survey of the creek was done in order to determine what director of ag and waste services Matt Janz describes as "the problem areas."
"We’ve identified the problem areas and now we need a little direction from council on the next step, being if we take on the ownership of these problems or we get that information back to landowners and let them deal with their own problems,” detailed Janz at the MD of Bonnyville regular council meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 30.
Janz explained how although they have located the issue, they don't necessarily have the forces within the MD to fix it.
His recommendation was to contract out some, if not all, of the work in order to ensure it's done right and to the standards of Alberta Environment and Parks.
“This creek is the responsibility of the MD… the license is in our name. There are some crossings there that don’t meet Alberta Environment’s specifications, and what we’re alluding to here today, is some of these are causing back-up problems, and we need to work on that. We don’t want to negotiate with landowners without council knowing and giving us direction to do that,” CAO Luc Mercier expressed, adding in some cases, work will be required from the landowners because "they put things in there that are not kosher."
"We will ensure, because it's our responsibility and our creek, that everything is done as to Alberta Environment's requirements," he continued. "Some landowners may have struggles with this, but we want to work with them, we're not here to put the hammer down so to speak. We need to have this fixed up."
Specific projects to address the Barreyre Lake and outfall system issues include creek restoration work, such as channel development, revegetation, erosion, and control monitoring. Replacement or assessment of culverts is another route they could take.
Sediment removal is also a possibility, however the MD would require landowner consent, water act approval from the province, and an erosion and sediment control plan.
Removing eight culverts and replacing them with an appropriate single-sized one was another alternative.
When it came to Muriel Creek specifically, the municipality has the option of re-applying the entire creek as a drainage right of way, looking at specific parts of the creek system that have re-occurring issues, or selected crossings.
Janz is suggesting part of the work be completed in 2019, with the remainder planned for 2020. Which method they will choose to go with has yet to be determined.
Once the project is complete, Janz is predicting Barreyre Lake to drop at least half a metre, "if not more."
Mercier stressed all they were asking for at this time was the go-ahead to begin negotiations with residents. Any funding requests would be brought back to council for decision.
"The final plans will be brought back to council to figure out (what to do) based on those negotiations."
