After years of battling the provincial government over the future of a flood-protection berm they constructed along the Little Red Deer River on their property in Westward Ho, MarieAnne and Bryce Schacher have finally been given a little bit of good news.Last week Environment Minister Rob Renner met with the Schachers and then announced that the province would pay for an engineering study of the berm, a survey that will look at the makeup of the barrier and hydraulics of the river. It will recommend whether the berm can stay in place, needs to be removed, can be armoured, or some other option.The province had earlier ordered the Schachers to pay for the engineering study themselves, at an estimated cost of between $80,000 and $100,000.ìNow they are going to do pretty much what they ordered us to do,î said MarieAnne. ìIt was quite a relief and I was kind of in shock when I heard. They said earlier that they would either tear it down and charge us for the work or we had to pay for the study. We are very frustrated and tired.ìWe are sitting in a far better position today, but it remains to be seen what we will be told to do.îFor his part, Bryce said he is happy the province will conduct, and pay for, the study.ìI'm sure pleased with this news because it's kind of what we've been asking for all along,î said Bryce. ìThey can't promise me anything of course, but I believe it's a step forward.îThe Schachers constructed the berm in 2008 after flooding of their 10-acre property and their neighbours' property in 2005 and 2007.Last fall, Alberta Environment issued a $5,000 administrative penalty against the Schachers and ordered them to pay for an engineering study ìto calculate the impact of the berm on flood levels and water velocity and determine if the berm could be left in placeî by Aug. 31, 2011.The Schachers have paid the fine.ìI wasn't going to have that hanging over my head,î she said.In issuing the order, Alberta Environment officials said the berm was constructed in violation of the Water Act.In announcing that the province would now pay for the engineering study, Renner said although he would like to see the berm remain in place, that can only happen once it is conclusively determined to be safe.For her part, MarieAnne says the berm has been protecting Westward Ho village residences, including most recently during flooding of the Little Red Deer River this spring.ìEveryone (in the village) has been fairly glad that it was there because we would have flooded it again,î she said.Gina Parker-Whitlow, who lives along the Little Red Deer River in Westward Ho, says she believes the berm is doing a great job protecting the community.ìI know it is working,î said Parker-Whitlow. ìI'm the first house past the park (Westward Ho Campground) and I know we would have flooded this spring if the berm wasn't there. It worked really well and I feel secure.îShe said she would like to see the berm remain in place.ìOne thing I'd like to say is they (Schachers) could have built that berm to secure themselves and been fine, but they continued the berm south and that protected all of us. They didn't just do it for themselves; they did it for everybody,î she said.Bryce says he would like to see the berm ìrefined and improvedî in the future.ìWe did the best we could with what we had in the time provided,î he said. ìIt would be nice if we could get some help from the government.îHe said he believes Sundre-area MLA Ty Lund, as well as widespread media coverage, has been largely responsible for prompting the government to pay for the study.Meanwhile, the Town of Sundre is now awaiting the arrival of newly announced $2.4-million grant funding for riverbank protection work along the Red Deer River in town.Renner announced last week that Sundre will be receiving the money to construct flood prevention armouring along the west bank of the Red Deer River in town.The Town of Sundre, the Sundre and District Chamber of Commerce Save Our Sundre Committee (SOS) and other local stakeholders have been pushing for provincial funding for the flood prevention work since 2005.ìThis is a public safety issue and it is preventative,î Renner said in announcing the funding. ìI think the area that really drew my attention was when it was pointed out that where the erosion was taking place by the campground it is starting to get very, very close to the main sewer line.îA timeline for the construction has not been set, although Mayor Annette Clews said she would like to see it happen before spring runoff 2012.SOS committee chairman Jim Eklund told Sundre town council last week that the committee will be disbanded, perhaps once work on the riverbank gets underway.
