Village ordered to control water use

EDMONTON - The village of Boyle has been ordered to reduce the amount of water it takes from Skeleton Lake and stop selling water by the truckload to non-residents.

Alberta Environment issued the order after the village of 900 people exceeded the yearly allowable take from the lake by 10,000 cubic metres in the first nine months of this year.

The main problem appears to be at its truck-fill station, where users are allowed to fill up tanker trucks for a fee without having to prove they are residents, Alberta Environment spokesman Josh Stewart said.

"They need to find a way to ensure that only residents of the village use that truck-fill station." He said the water is intended for people with cottages who aren't on the village's water supply.

"It's for a small number of people," he said. "What we think has been happening is they have been supplying industrial users and work camps that aren't even in the village."

Mayor Bob Clark said the village has hired an engineering firm to help come up with a water conservation plan. But he disagreed with the department's contention declining water levels in the lake are the result of overconsumption. "Over the years, the lake level has fluctuated widely," he said in a news release. "Studies on the matter have been inconclusive."

Boyle administrator Ken Gwozdz said the village will begin issuing tokens for use at the truck-fill station to keep track of users. It charges $4.35 a cubic metre for water. He also denied large industrial users and work camps are buying the water.

"The water for the truck-fill is for residences surrounding Boyle and they rely on that water."

Boyle has an annual water allocation from the lake of 185,100 cubic metres. As of Sept. 27, it had already used 194,789 cubic metres from the lake.

The village has until Nov. 1 to submit a plan for limiting truck-fill customers to residents or will have to close the station by Dec. 31. It also has to submit a water conservation plan to Alberta Environment by Dec. 7, detailing steps it will take to reduce its water usage.

The department will also assess the village's water use practices and may require it to install water meters, reduce industrial consumption and repair leaks.

A permanent solution to the community's water supply problem is expected when it becomes part of the Aspen regional water supply in the spring of 2009.

Boyle is 160 kilometres north of Edmonton.

ljohnsrude@thejournal.canwest.com

© Edmonton Journal 2007