Canoeist paddle along the Red Deer River in central Alberta in 2014.
The idea of a dam and reservoir east of Red Deer has been contemplated since at least the 1940s. In an era of drought, climate change and population growth, the Alberta government is funding a new study to consider the project once again.The proposed Ardley dam on the Red Deer River would create a new reservoir to provide water for irrigation and a growing population.
That plan evolved over the years as studies were done, governments changed and public finances fluctuated. In the 1940s, a dam project was proposed. Sites were surveyed, core samples were taken, and by 1951, a cost estimate for construction was prepared.In 1983, the Dickson Dam was built on the Red Deer River, upstream and southwest of the city of Red Deer.
"But I always suspected that long before that would come a series of reservoirs to help increase the storage and therefore increase our resiliency to drought."this year, completed by a consulting firm for the Alberta Irrigation Districts Association, estimated that the project could provide water for 1.4 million additional people in the region, as well as irrigation for 51,000 hectares.
"There's a deep ravine in the Red Deer River at this point. It holds a lot of water without taking a lot of cultivated lands out of production.""I know people don't want to hear it, but building reservoirs is an irreversible consequence for the land and for the biodiversity. It has significant impacts," said Stadnyk.
"Once that reservoir is in place, and given that there are no restrictions on new water licences in the Red Deer River ... there's quite likely to be additional development."
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