Village overdraws water from drying lake

The village has exceeded this year's allocated limit on how much water it can divert from nearby Skeleton Lake, a well-known recreation area 170 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

The lake has been steadily dropping since 1997 and is now at its lowest recorded level.

Boyle is allowed to draw 185,100 cubic metres of water from the lake for 2007, but had already taken 194,789 cubic metres as of Sept. 27.

Josh Stewart of Alberta Environment said a water filling station for trucks is supposed to be reserved for residents of Boyle, but it's usually left open with no form of controls.

"It's not a big impact on aquatic life there. Most of the lakes in Alberta have been dropping, just because of weather conditions, but we still need to work to conserve the water in the lake," Stewart said.

The village has been told to immediately fix these problems and submit a detailed water conservation plan.

In the meantime, Boyle will have to apply for a temporary diversion licence for water.

"This is actual the first time it's ever been issued to a village or a town. It's kind of a blip in the map," Stewart said. "It's the first time, we don't expect more of them."