Following a Rocky View County (RVC) council meeting Sept. 9, a controversial Local Improvement Tax (LIT) proposed to residents around Cochrane Lake to offset the costs resulting from the flooded lake has been quashed in a vote of 8-0.
Div. 9 RVC councillor Bruce Kendall was absent from council; Kendall put the notion of motion for the LIT forward this summer.
Many residents around the (unofficial) hamlet expressed outrage to the media over the notion of being taxed for a public-use lake. Pumping of Cochrane Lake has drastically increased since a temporary line running into the Bow River became operational last week.
“In terms of the temporary solution, things are going very well,” said Div. 2 RVC councillor Jerry Arshinoff, who has been vocal with his support of the affected Cochrane Lake residents and has criticized the County’s delayed response and seeming lack of support for flood-impacted residents — namely those living in the hamlet.
According to Arshinoff, four cubic meters per minute are being pumped into Horse Creek, six into Big Hill Creek and 12 into the Bow River.
“If that keeps up, it will go down about an inch per day.”
Previous to the Bow River pumping, the water levels were going down an inch per week — with another six feet still to go, leaving plenty of room for doubt that this could be accomplished before freeze-up.
Arshinoff said depending on rain/snow fall before freeze-up, the goal may be achievable to bring the water table back down to 1,281 meters, and possibly an additional half-meter.
With respect to the outcry from groups such as Bow Valley Habitat Development that pumping into Horse Creek and Big Hill Creek are disturbing the water tables and having a negative impact on the spawning activities of the fish in those watersheds, Arshinoff said the province is paying close attention to the pumping activities.
Arshinoff said a limnologist (a freshwater scientist) has been brought in by Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development and so far he has been advised that ‘no adverse effects (on either creek) had occurred (so far)’.
