HEISLER, Alta. – A mixture of thick brown sand, water and tiny chunks of coal flows from a hole and across the snow like lava from a volcano.
The wet brew is a good sign for the water well drillers, but Ken Hugo, a hydrogeologist, standing nearby, is looking for a water gusher, not just mud.
Hugo hopes when the drillers reach 250 feet they’ll hit water that flows a strong 10 gallons a minute, not the one to three gallons a minute typical of many other wells in the area.
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“This is too muddy. You’d be pumping sand forever,” said Hugo as he looked at the mixture forced out of the hole by the drillers at 80 feet.
The Alberta counties of Paintearth, Flagstaff and Stettler hired Hugo, of Sabatini Earth Technologies, to search for water. After two years of dry summers, winters with little snow and questions about the future, county officials realized they must find an emergency water supply for farmers.
These counties are like hundreds of other municipalities, towns and villages across the Prairies that are using a $60 million water development program announced last fall by federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief to help develop better water supplies.
The National Water Supply Expansion Initiative, under the existing Rural Water Development Program of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, has been allocated $10 million in the first year of the 31/2 year program.
“It was a bit of a mad scramble to get things rolling,” said Bill Franz, district water specialist with PFRA in Red Deer, who worked with several municipalities to get projects started.
So far in Alberta, 40 tank loading facilities have been approved. Flagstaff County is building four tank loading facilities, which store water from wells, throughout its central Alberta jurisdiction.
Funds have also gone toward pasture pipeline projects and additions to rural water co-op pipelines.
Money is also allocated to the search for water, which can be unpredictable and expensive. Through this federal program the government takes the risk, said Brian Bell, in charge of the program for Alberta.
When Vanclief announced the program last fall, there were complaints the money was tied to water only, but Bell said there have been few complaints from areas short of water.
“These are long-term supplies being developed. We’ve had a lot of positive response. We’re proud of the funding for water source. We’re putting in good wells and good tank loaders.”
Dave Kiely, the national program leader for the project, said Alberta has focused on using its money to build tank loading facilities. In Saskatchewan, money has been earmarked for pipeline projects and for individual farms. Manitoba has allocated more for rural water projects.
In the first year, $3.5 million was allocated to Alberta, $4 million to Saskatchewan and $1.5 million to Manitoba.
Back at the well south of Heisler, the search for water continues, using a more expensive but comprehensive assessment.
The more detailed assessment uses air photos, digital imagery, ground water well logs, geological maps and radar-satellite images to form a composite map showing potential ground water areas.
Hugo looks for fractures in the bedrock where water can naturally seep underground. By drilling at the fractures, well drillers hope to improve the chances of finding water.
“The water drains naturally through the fractures,” said Hugo.
If the well is a success, the site will be developed and a tank loading facility will be added to give farmers access to more water.
“Our municipality should have something in place just in case someone’s farm well dries up,” said Brent Hoyland, agricultural fieldman with Flagstaff County.
“We want to keep livestock and farms in the area.
“The drought brought an awareness it’s important to have an alternative source of water.”
