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Cold Lake found to be sustainable source for regional waterline

A study completed on Cold Lake has revealed it can sustain a regional waterline. On Thursday, March 23, residents attended an open house on the Cold Lake Health Assessment, conducted on behalf of the Town of Bonnyville.
Bonnyville Mayor Gene Sobolewski discusses the Cold Lake Health Assessment study with Stantec aquatic biologist Karoliina Munter.
Bonnyville Mayor Gene Sobolewski discusses the Cold Lake Health Assessment study with Stantec aquatic biologist Karoliina Munter.

A study completed on Cold Lake has revealed it can sustain a regional waterline.

On Thursday, March 23, residents attended an open house on the Cold Lake Health Assessment, conducted on behalf of the Town of Bonnyville. The study ultimately determined Cold Lake could be the source for a regional waterline without any serious repercussions.

The Town of Bonnyville hired Stantec Inc., an engineering services company, to conduct the study as an unbiased third party to determine whether or not the lake could endure the impact of the waterline.

“The scope (of the study) was to take a look at the old reports and examine the impact on the lake that this population that is assigned to it will have on it. That question was answered,” Mayor of Bonnyville Gene Sobolewski said.

He continued that the town hosted the event to settle some unresolved issues within the communities involved.

“All along, since the province made the decision (to use Cold Lake for the waterline)… there has always been this non-belief or questioning of the data the province had… What we wanted to do was say ‘hey, wait a minute, we know this exists,' and use someone who was completely independent and completely unattached to this project in any way, shape or form to conduct an unbiased review.”

Stantec aquatic biologist Karoliina Munter was one of the researchers involved with the study. She said over the years, the lake has seen the water levels rise and fall drastically due to climate change, not consumption.

“Climate changes, and we don't know what is going to happen in the future, but Cold Lake is a huge lake. If you are looking at finding a reliable water source in this area, I think that, by far, this is one of the best ones,” said Munter.

The study included analyzing the water balance of the lake, determining the amount of water that comes in, and where it's going.

Munter also looked at the topography of the lake, concluding Cold Lake is over 355 square-kilometres in area, with a maximum depth of 99.9 metres.

“Cold Lake is a really big and deep lake, with a very large watershed,” explained Munter. “This lake is not a uniform shape.”

“It has some very interesting depth contours. In most cases the lake gets deep pretty quickly, and there are only a couple of areas where it's shallow and then goes deeper.”

There were three main areas of shallow habitat reviewed; west of Murray Island, English Bay, and Long Bay. Wildlife and vegetation were investigated in these areas to determine how they would be impacted by the potential future decrease in water levels.

In order to better understand the future impacts of the regional waterline, the study predicted a four to 11 millimetre decrease in the water level, including an increase in overall population for the area of consumption. With that in mind, they confirmed that these shallow areas would see a slight but non-visible change to the habitats.

That being said, Munter noted, that doesn't mean those habitats won't be affected by the change.

Year after year, the water levels of the lake change based on climate. These changes are closely monitored by Environment Alberta. Should the water level in Cold Lake reach below the license cutoff of 534.62 metres above sea level, consumption is reduced. Should it go one step further and fall below 534.55, water consumption would be completely cut off to the five licensed users.

Currently, Cold Lake has five major water licenses. These include Imperial Oil, the Cold Lake Regional Utility Services Commission, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the Fish Hatchery, and the MD of Bonnyville who uses the lake for dust control.

In the past, the lake has hit an all-time low of 534.306 metres above sea level in December 1992. In July 1997, it reached its highest water level to date at 535.881.

“Cold Lake has been identified by the province as the water source for a big area … they are saying Cold Lake is going to be a water source and that is something that is tough for us to accept, but the province wants Bonnyville and others to have a good source of drinking water, and Cold Lake is it,” Mayor Craig Copeland said.

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