The county of St. Paul received approval from the Alberta Government that will make it faster and cheaper to fix and maintain local boat launches.
The approval was granted this month under the province’s Comprehensive Water Act, that allows the county to bypass the usual environmental permitting process for routine maintenance like repair work, brushing, erosion control, and drainage improvements.
Construction manager Andy Petterson says the change “skips the middleman every single time,” eliminating the need to hire environmental biologists or wait for project-specific approvals. While the county still needs to notify Alberta Environment for in-water work, jobs on the lakebed and shore can now move ahead with fewer delays.
Petterson says the county could save up to $30,000 a year with the new process, and approval for a new boat launch at Garner Lake was issued in just two weeks.
Reeve Glen Ockerman called the previous system costly and excessive and welcomed the move. “None of us want to pollute our lakes… but it’s insane that we have to conduct thousands of impact studies,” he said. “It’s just a waste of money.”
St. Paul is the second municipality in Alberta to get this new process, which has been in the works for four years.
