Dead Man’s Flats project gets OK
CANMORE— A new development in Dead Man’s Flats is moving ahead after an agreement was reached with Canmore for its water supply and sewage treatment, but it’s raising some environmental concerns.
On Saturday, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in the hamlet for River’s Bend, about seven kilometres east of Canmore in the M.D. of Bighorn.
“It’s been a long process,” said Frank Kernick, vice-president of the development, which will include 77 residential lots, 25 condominium lots and 15 light industrial or commercial lots on 13 hectares of land adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway just south of the Bow River.
It initially stalled because it had no available water, but it’ll now go ahead after an agreement was reached with the Town of Canmore to connect to its water supply.
Environmental groups, though, have concerns about the water servicing agreement between Canmore and the M.D. of Bighorn.
“They set a threshold that’s governed by how much water a watershed river could support,” said Karsten Heuer, president of the Yellow stone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. “One of the big hitches for … that development was that they couldn’t draw water from the Bow River.
“If we’re setting these limits based on our watersheds, should we really be going through these backdoor mechanisms that still allow us to develop despite the fact that this indicator is telling us that we’re full? We shouldn’t do any more.”
Both the developer and the M.D. said they don’t see it as an issue, noting there’s capacity in the town’s water supply under its current licence.
“The province is trying to get communities to work together,” said Kernick. In fact, he said the province rewarded the regional co-operation by agreeing to pay $5.8 million of the $11-million cost to install the water and sewage lines.
Dene Cooper, reeve for the M.D. of Bighorn, agreed there’s no concern about the water agreement.
“The water we’re getting is already licensed,” he said. “I don’t think it’s correct to say that this is an added draw on the Bow River.”
Other environmental concerns are based on the fact the development is both in an area that flooded and in a key wildlife corridor.