Four southern Alberta dams and reservoirs will get $104 million worth of upgrades as part of a provincial flood mitigation strategy.
The Travers-Little Bow dam southeast of Vulcan, the Bassano dam near Bassano, the Taylor Coulee wasteway near Cardston and the Bullhorn wasteway, also near Cardston, will all see upgrades in coming months, according to an Alberta government news release.
At Travers, an emergency spillway will be completed and the dam will be raised. An irrigation outlet will also be replaced.
At Bassano dam, a new concrete emergency spillway will replace an existing earthen spillway. That project will be cost-shared with the Eastern Irrigation District, which owns the dam.
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“The Bassano Dam is 100-years-old and barely survived the 2013 flood,” said EID district chair Bob Chrumka, in a news release.
“We are pleased to partner with the government of Alberta to ensure the dam continues to support irrigation, communities and industry within our district.”
The two Cardston area projects involve replacement of wooden spillways with larger concrete spillways.
The projects and funding were announced May 21 by Alberta environment minister Robin Campbell.
The upgrades are all designed to help spill excess water in times of flood and protect dams from erosion. The work is part of a larger strategy arising from the 2013 floods in southern Alberta that did widespread damage.
Alberta has about 70 percent of the irrigated farmland in Canada and the reservoirs are a key part of the system.
Alberta agriculture minister Verlyn Olson noted their importance in his remarks.
“These measures will help protect our irrigation network, which provides a stable, long-term supply of water for producers in southern Alberta,” Olson said.
