BARRHEAD — County of Barrhead councillors passed a motion during their July 19 meeting approving an additional $1,500 to pay for an assessment of the Thunder Lake lagoon, which will help determine its current capacity and provide options for future usage.
County manager Debbie Oyarzun reminded council that the Thunder Lake lagoon assessment was already approved as a priority project for 2022, with $15,000 being allocated for the project.
“We are just exceeding the budget for $1,500 and therefore it requires council approval,” she said, noting that administration could have brought the item to council in a different way, wanted to get moving on this project now.
Public works manager Travis Wierenga noted in his background report that the Thunder Lake lagoon is a single evaporative cell located at NW-19-59-05-W5, just past Lightning Bay Estates.
Lightning Bay received a permit in 1979 to build the lagoon, which has an approximate volume of 11,500 cubic metres. The county then bought it in 1987 and received a licence from Alberta Environment to operate a wastewater stabilization pond.
As a result of several wet years and perhaps a little overuse, the lagoon came close to reaching capacity in 2021. The county started monitoring the site closely and put in some restrictions about who was allowed to dump wastewater into the lagoon.
“It actually lays it out in the permit. It's quite specific as to what areas, what subdivisions can go in there,” he said.
In 2021, the county engaged Associate Engineering to conduct an assessment of the Dunstable Lagoon at a cost of $14,500.
The engineering firm was then approached to assess the Thunder Lake lagoon, though this time the quoted price tag was $16,500.
Wierenga indicated the higher cost was due to the project involving a bit more assessment compared to Dunstable, as well as the more isolated location.
Once completed, this lagoon assessment will determine if it requires any repairs or rehabilitation, conduct a “sludge survey” that will identify how much capacity is left; identify whether the sludge can be used for land applications (spreading it on farmer’s fields), and evaluate methods to optimize the usage of the lagoon based on service area and needs.
“This report essentially gives us information that we need on that facility ... to move forward,” he said.
Wierenga noted that any net “profits” from the operation of the Thunder Lake lagoon are put aside in reserves. Currently, there is approximately $26,500 set aside that can be utilized for this project.
