The provincial government is helping to move a half-century-old sewage pipeline from along the Sheep River in Turner Valley as part of continued efforts to assist communities impacted by the 2013 flood.
The Province announced last week the Town of Turner Valley will receive $720,000 through the Alberta Community Resilience Program grant to relocate its sanitary force main from along the banks of the Sheep River to beneath the Turner Valley Golf Club. About six feet of the pipe was exposed when the riverbank eroded in the spring of 2013.
The Town of Turner Valley is the managing partner for the Westend Regional Sewage Services Commission, which oversees the operation of Black Diamond and Turner Valleys sewage system and consists of two members from each community’s Town councils.
“I’m very grateful we got that funding in place,” said Black Diamond Mayor Sharlene Brown. “It’s good to see there’s some financial resources coming towards it.”
Brown said the price tag to relocate the main is estimated at $800,000 and that the funding covers the majority of the cost.
She is glad the project can finally get started.
“It didn’t break open or cause any issues, but it was brought to light because the land around it eroded so much that it needed to be moved,” she said. “We cannot lose sewage into the river. That’s an ecological and environmental nightmare and the towns don’t want to be responsible for that. We are moving the force main out of the river valley system as much as we possibly can.”
The Province is allocating nearly $25 million towards such flood mitigation projects as building floor barriers, protecting or relocating critical water management infrastructure and addressing public safety and access issues in the second round of the Alberta Community Resilience Program grant.
Commission member Mike Ross said the Towns applied for the grant in 2014.
“We want to have it done as soon as we can get at it,” he said. “June is coming up and that’s high water season and we want to get it out of the river valley. We have to eliminate a considerable length of pipe in order to go underneath the golf course. We can’t just right turn it and put it up the hill we have to angel it across and tie it into the new gravity main that we had put in as part of DRP.”
Ross said the sewer main currently crosses the Sheep River by the Turner Valley Gas Plant, runs down the dirt road at the bottom of Royalite Way in Turner Valley and along the river bank.
The main will be relocated high enough that it will be above the 200-year flood line, he said, adding the corrugated metal will be replaced with PVC piping.
Without the Province’s help, Ross said it would have been a costly venture for the towns.
“Otherwise west end was going to have to debenture the entire amount and that would have been reflected back in sewage fees,” he said. “We avoid putting them up as much as possible.”
The Alberta Community Resilience Program is providing $500 million in grant funding over 10 years to municipalities, special areas, improvement districts, First Nations and Métis Settlements to help ensure public safety and protect critical municipal infrastructure.
The next submission deadline for the program is Sept. 30.
