CANMORE – A yet-to-be approved by council master plan outlining future infrastructure needs for Canmore as well as establishing updated off-site levies forecasts roughly $200 million in potential infrastructure needs in the next 25 years.
The Utility Master Plan (UMP), a vital municipal guiding document, highlight three key areas of future concern for the municipality: the replacement of aging waterlines, increasing reservoir storage and a change in an existing water licence agreement between the Town and TransAlta.
“The document is quite valuable for administration to do their planning,” said Andreas Comeau, the Town’s manager of public works. “It’s one of those things that as long as people turn on the taps and flush the toilet and it all works, people are happy. That’s our goal is to maintain those service levels. We have this document that is quite critical to ensure that we are continuing to provide that level of service.”
The most significant cost is necessary improvements to meet provincial regulations by 2032 for the wastewater treatment plan to the tune of an estimated $75 million to $125 million.
The UMP identifies $66 million in water treatment infrastructure, with the Town being on the hook for a potential $40.5 million, developers contributing a projected $23 million and Dead Man’s Flats $2.5 million.
For sewer-related projects, a total of $28.1 million in 11 projects up to 2041 are estimated to have the Town pick up $22.8 million of the costs, developers $4 million and Dead Man’s Flats $1.28 million.
The document is also at the heart of off-site levy conversations between the municipality and the development sector since it identifies what the municipality and developers are expected to pay for new or replacement infrastructure.
Though infrequently glimpsed at, the UMP is a central document in guiding projects that come to council for approval each budget as well as establishing offsite levies, which began in July with ongoing discussions with the Town and BOWDA.
Off-site levies are a legislated method for the development community to repay for costs that are incurred by the municipality in establishing infrastructure needs for existing and future development.
In Canmore, there are 17 off-site levy zones where each one has a specific number of units planned for future development, redevelopment and infill. It calculates the future unit count and the necessary infrastructure needed to service those zones.
Ian O’Donnell, BOWDA’s executive director, said its UMP review committee is continuing to work through the master plan and will have information for the Town to look at in the coming weeks.
“We would be in a better position to comment at that time,” he said in an email.
When council approves its annual budget, information in the UMP is frequently used as a guide for infrastructure and high cost items.
The 2016 version, which was approved by council, analyzed future projects at five, 10, 15 and full build out intervals ending in 2046. The 2022 UMP update did intervals of five, 15 and 25 years and also ended at 2046, but has only been presented at the May committee of the whole.
The replacement of aging waterlines is emphasized, with multiple projects in the downtown and south Canmore area needed since much of it dates to the 1960s. While earmarked between 2037-41, Comeau said projects could be moved up to align with engineering projects on roadways to have both done at the same time to save on costs and time.
“The intent is to move a lot of those pipe replacements up further than what CIMA+ identified,” he said.
“We do have some pipes that are leaking and we also have at the same time engineering moving forward with their Transportation Integrated Plan, so a combination more or less dictate the schedule.”
The bulk of the Town’s water pipes – about 64 per cent – are 30 years old or less. The UMP stated about 65 per cent of water mains are PVC and 30 per cent ductile iron. There are 118 kilometres of pipe, according to the UMP.
Comeau noted waterlines can degrade over time, which are further hampered by the annual thaw that can lead to pipes shifting and potentially cracking and leaking.
“That can have an effect on the piping, which can create a crack and then they would leak. … The problem we have in Canmore is when they leak, unlike most other communities, they don’t surface.”
He added the Town spends about $100,000 a year in leak detection repairs by EPCOR, which lead to about two to three large leak detections a year.
In 2015, according to the 2016 UMP, there were 520,412 cubic metres of water lost with “21 per cent of the water sent into the distribution over the past years is unaccounted for.”
The 2022 UMP outlined an average loss factor of 1.45 between 2018 and 2021. The distribution was about 2.67 million cubic metres of water and 1.84 million cubic metres of consumption.
A notable long-term fix in the UMP is adding water storage capacity, which was further hampered by the Benchlands reservoir seeing its storage volume drop from 11,200 cubic metres to 7,300 cubic metres.
According to the 2022 UMP, “all supply zones have adequate water storage,” but the central and eastern zones are near the limit for Benchlands reservoir. But in the 15-year horizon, “there is no longer adequate storage across the supply zones.”
Comeau said a leak in a clear well was detected in 2022 and isolated, meaning it could no longer store water losing about one-third of its capacity. The UMP notes it’s not an issue in the short- or mid-term, but an issue in the 25-year forecast.
“It’s not a pressing issue, but that would be the plan to resolve it,” he said. “Obviously a lot cheaper and easier to deal with than to go in and replace it with another clear well. That’s very costly and disruptive.”
The UMP has the Grassi reservoir upgrade forecasted for 2039 for $7.59 million, with the cost sharing at 75 per cent for developers and 25 per cent for Dead Man’s Flats.
An expansion to existing reservoirs “should be constructed to support the future growth in Canmore,” according to the UMP, with the Grassi reservoir having “the greatest impact, as it has the capability to support all the supply zones.”
However, the UMP also notes a new water line along Silvertip Trail could be built, connecting zones three and four, to defer the Grassi reservoir expansion since there’s “approximately 1,100 square metres excess capacity in the Silvertip reservoir.”
One of the recommendations in the UMP is for additional storage of about 7,000 cubic metres that “would be a significant increase in the required storage volume in the Town, and would be reflected by a very high capital cost.”
The long-term capability of the Town’s water licences are linked in the need to increase water capacity.
The UMP notes several times the restrictions faced by pumphouse No. 2 due to the agreement between the Town and TransAlta. In the 15-year horizon, it highlights pumphouse No. 1 can meet water supply needs, but if “instream objectives are not met for Well No. 2 during a maximum day event, pumphouse No. 1 would not be able to receive adequate water supply.”
Pumphouse No. 2, due to the contract restrictions with TransAlta, doesn’t have capacity to support pumphouse No. 1 long-term. The UMP recommends increasing flow from well No. 1 or building a new well not impacted by instream flow.
It states pumphouse No. 2 could support pumphouse No. 1, but “the previous TransAlta agreement means that is not feasible until those limitations are renegotiated.”
The UMP further highlights the impact the TransAlta deal has on pumphouse No. 2. An upcoming project is designed to have its treatment capacity increased to 170L/s.
But pumphouse No. 1 has a 37L/s deficit for the 25-year horizon, meaning pumphouse No. 2 would need to treat 211L/s to keep up. While the pumphouse No. 2 project was designed to handle 225L/s, it “was reduced to 170L/s in accordance with the licence limitations.”
Comeau said TransAlta and the Town discovered the commercial agreement in 2022 when going through the design for pumphouse No. 2, which needed permission from TransAlta to move forward.
“It was an old agreement that neither party was really paying attention to, but because of the design and working with TransAlta on the approvals and alignment we discovered it,” he said. “We went through historical documents and it was noted and it had an impact on the design.”
Comeau said it has no short- or mid-term impact, but it means the Town is unable to withdraw as much water as needed in the long-term forecast. The Town can continue to withdraw water, but would have to store it offsite and draw it in for treatment at a different time.
He said it would take place during the evening and night, which is standard practice, and store it to help with peak demands.
The long-term options are to ultimately reduce the amount of water withdrawn or increase the size of a reservoir.
“It definitely has an effect on the licence,” Comeau said. “We can still withdraw the same amount of water. It’s just at which rate we can do it at. That’s the impact.”
The Town’s main sources of water are two deep wells supplying groundwater to pumphouse No. 1 and surface water from Rundle Forebay that supplies pumphouse No. 2.
After the water’s treated, it’s stored in five reservoirs and five pump stations, which in turn are distributed to three supply areas that are western, central and eastern.
Attempts to get the Town’s water licences in June during the municipal-wide water restrictions were unsuccessful. The province, however, provided the public documents to the Outlook.
Pumphouse No. 1 has three water licences for a maximum annual diversion of roughly 2.12 million cubic metres of annual diversion and 589.5 litres per second of maximum rate of diversion. Pumphouse No. 2 has two licences that allow 2.94 million cubic metres of annual diversion and 760L/S of maximum rate of diversion.
Pumphouse No. 2 caused a brief controversial discussion piece at the 2022 budget when Town staff declined to publicly tell council the extent of the contingency costs for the project.
The 2016 UMP estimated it at $12 million but a “significant contingency” led to the $20 million projected number.
Comeau said the project still needs approval from the province and the Town’s working with TransAlta on an agreement, but the intent is to award the work this year and potentially begin later in 2023 or 2024.
The 2016 UMP recommended to service the full build out of the community, pumphouse No. 2 treatment capacity be upgraded to 225L/s, including a 10 per cent factor of safety. It added filtering technology should be examined to “achieve higher filtering rates while using the same or similar building footprint, like membrane filtration.”
In other nearby communities, water capacity has become a significant issue in the ability to maintain growth. Both Cochrane and Okotoks instituted water conservation methods to extend the life of their licences and prioritized fixing leaks to avoid unnecessary water loss.
However, the provincial government hasn’t allowed water licences from the South Saskatchewan basin – which include the Bow, Red Deer and Old Man rivers – to be awarded since the mid-2000s. The last water licence issued in the South Saskatchewan basin was to Three Sisters Mountain Village Properties Limited.
The Town of Okotoks and Foothill County received a $15.9 million provincial grant last year to feed water from where the Highwood River meets the Bow River, but the Town’s main water source is the Sheep River. The pipeline is expected to be running in 2025.
Prior to the pipeline funding, the Town of Okotoks had warned without a new source of water supply it would halt all new growth.
The mandate letter for the Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas directs Minister Rebecca Schulz to look at the province’s water management strategy to “increase the availability of water and water licences to Alberta municipalities, businesses and agricultural producers while maintaining the highest standards of water conservation and treatment.”
The 25-year growth projections anticipate 938 more industrial and commercial units, 3,545 extra hotel units, 770 low-density residential units and 3,937 medium to high-density residential units. In the same time period, the master plan estimates an extra 202.7 hectares of land being developed.
