Pipes located south of the Town of Coaldale are part of a multi-organization project that is said to improve flood protection and sustainable water management for the area.
Back in November work on the Malloy Drain Phase 2B Project broke ground. Some of the key features included in the project are reinstating the Town of Coaldale’s raw water reservoirs by repurposing the detention ponds that are next to the Quads, increasing the town’s stormwater capacity by roughly 50 per cent or the equivalent of approximately 216 Olympic-sized swimming pools. It also includes the installation of a storm pipe that is 1.6 kilometres long, which will direct runoff from the Cottonwood Stormwater Management Facility and the future South Coaldale Regional Stormwater Management Facility directly into the decommissioned reservoirs.
According to a statement from Mayor Jack Van Rijn, “The enhanced system will store and manage runoff from major rain events, supporting the controlled release of stormwater into the SMRID system, ultimately ending in Stafford Lake through the Malloy Drain. This ensures water is available for irrigation downstream.”
The funding for the project that is estimated to cost $4.9 million, is paid in partnership by the town, the St. Mary River Irrigation District, and Lethbridge County, along with funding from the federal and provincial governments.
Since 1963 Coaldale has experienced four significant flooding events, including 1963, 1995, 2012 and 2014. According to Van Rijn this is partly because of Coaoldale’s unique location in what he describes as a “natural bowl, where water flows downhill to the lowest point,” resulting in heavy rain and flash flooding overwhelming local drainage systems.
To make this work possible the water levels in the Cottonwood Stormwater Management Facility along Highway 845 will temporarily be lowered. Work is expected to start this fall and is expected to be completed next summer.
