By Geoff Smith (@GeoffSmithLNN on Twitter)

Crews make headway in keeping flood water away from Taber treatment plant

Mar 29, 2018 | 1:57 PM

TABER – The flood that threatened the Town of Taber water treatment plant is improving. But with a lot more melting to come, the town’s chief administrative officer says the past 24 hours has been a good test of what’s still to come.

The town declared a state of local emergency the night of Wednesday, March 29, to get more help dealing with meltwater that had started to drain from a field into a compost depot immediately south of the plant. Cory Armfelt, who is also the town’s director of emergency management, said efforts during the day to clear ditches and redirect the water hadn’t done enough.

“Over the night I can tell you that the elevation has probably dropped eight inches to a foot, of the water that’s standing out there right now, just by getting it heading to the west, where it should be heading,” Armfelt told reporters Thursday. “And now we have on hand a pump that’s actively pumping water from this area to our sanitary sewer system and controlling what’s happening on this side of it. So, we’re working to make sure that the elevation here declines as much as possible on the lake that is unanticipated south of our water treatment plant.”

The efforts were necessary to prevent the flood water from contaminating the water being treated in the plant. Armfelt said if the plant had to be shut down, a 48-hour supply for residential use is held in reserve.

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Colder weather slowed down the flow, he added, and it was hoped that cold temperatures over Easter weekend would allow crews to get a real jump on the situation. Had the town not reacted, he said the water may have also threatened a residential neighbourhood to the east. But so far, evacuations have not been contemplated in the town.

Earlier in the week, work also had to be done on the eastern edge of town near Walmart to keep the water draining.

The amount of runoff is unlike anything Armfelt can recall.

“We’ve had three or four times more snow ever than we’ve experienced before this winter. And then, with the rapid melts that we’ve had with last week and hopefully cooling this weekend to give us a bit of a break and increasing again after Easter. We are anticipating that this is a good test for what we could be encountering over the next couple of weeks.”

Once declared, a state of emergency remains in place for a minimum of one week. Armfelt said the town will evaluate whether to extend it. With more snow to melt, he feels the worst threat has passed, and they’re prepared to stay ahead of the meltwater.

Speaking in Lethbridge, Premier Rachel Notley said the government is ready to help.

“We know that the officials in Taber are working very, very hard to keep their community safe and we thank them for that work. And our government is coordinating with them right now to ensure that whatever additional supports they require, we’re able to provide.”