Dear Editor,
Hurray! I’ve got a fan club re: letters of Aug. 29 in response to my letter of Aug. 22.
Water levels in Sylvan Lake are much higher than they were in the 1950s. My wife and I lived in Sylvan Lake in the ’50s with our small children ages two and seven years old. She used to take our kids down to play on the nice sandy beach and watch them wade in shallow water. Would somebody like to call her a liar? There’s one to two feet of water there now.
The 1980s also had low water levels. We played volleyball on the beach! My neighbours in Half Moon Bay mentioned the other day they used to have 40 feet of nice grassy beach — now they have about 20 feet (many witnesses).
Speaking about controlling water levels in Sylvan Lake or anywhere else in Alberta, this certainly is controlled by the Government of Alberta. Actually there are four different government departments involved here, but Fisheries seems to carry the most clout. I know this from my own experience.
I owned a golf course for 25 years and dealt with provincial water works out of Calgary for several years. I even had to estimate how much water we used each year to water an 18 hole golf course (funny, huh?).
I had to deal with Fisheries to get permission to place fabric and large rocks on the shoreline to stop erosion in front of our lakefront property. Now the ice is pushing all that back.
I also had communications with Government of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.
Who has control of Alberta waters is nothing new to me.
We know the provincial government has full control of our lake water levels, but we need somebody to kick them in the butt, and keep on kicking and hope for some good results in the future.
We do have a drainage system on Sylvan Lake which has been used forever!
Sylvan Lake does need its beautiful sandy beaches back for the good of the town and the people who live here.
Who do you think is best qualified to do the kicking?
This turned out a little longer than I intended.
Everything I write is taken from everyday living, firsthand facts, I don’t need a lot of book research like some people!
One happy ending point in this story, I measured the lake again, and it has gone down a reasonable amount so far this summer.
So long for now, to my fan club!
Al Hallgren,
Sylvan Lake resident.
P.S. Lynda, do my advanced years bother you? They sure as heck don’t bother me!