Progress celebrated on Malloy Drain
COALDALE – Officials from the Town of Coaldale, County of Lethbridge, St. Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) and provincial government celebrated the start of phase 2A of the Malloy Drain Stormwater Management project Friday, Dec. 8.
The project will see the creation of a man-made wetland – with ponds on either side of Highway 3, just west of Coaldale – that should stem significant flooding issues that have followed large storms over the last few decades. It’s also expected to improve the water quality of the storm water collected, by filtering it through vegetation.
“The first thing the water is going to hit is a new design from Source 2 Source out of Calgary,” explained Kevin Viergutz, Malloy Drain project manager for the Town of Coaldale. “It’s called a Nautilus sediment pond, and the water will go around in a circular fashion and the velocity of the water will slow down and the sediment will fall out. And then it will go through a series of treatment marshes and fens that will improve the water quality, and then into the main pond, which has got some marsh components as well.”
From there, the storm water will be let out in a controlled rate into the existing water-wildlife preserve lakes and Malloy Drains into Stafford Lake.