With the construction season just around the corner, the Water Security Agency (WSA) have started mapping out work around Rafferty Dam. $2.5 million from the provincial government has been earmarked for repairs to Rafferty Road and the Rafferty dam itself.
WSA Spokesperson Patrick Boyle says that the work done to the grid road will be done with the local RM, as the road has been experiencing some issues. That includes poor drainage and a lack of gravel on the road. The road itself will also be thinned down to reduce future maintenance costs. "We're going to narrow that and the entire road to two meters to reduce the long-term maintenance cost," said Boyle.
For the dam itself, the spillway will be the main target of work to make sure the dam is running well.
"Those repairs will be done to maintain and improve the functionality and the safety of the spillway, which helps us during those high-flow events."
Boyle expects that work to continue for a while, with no indication on when it would be finished. He says they're "anticipating hopefully" to be done by this time next year, bearing in mind weather-related setbacks. He says that locals shouldn't expect any large-scale disruptions at Rafferty.
"The spillway, not so much there. Certainly, with some road work that's going to be completed with the RM there, there may be some just for that 11-kilometer stretch of Rafferty Road."
Boyle asks people to keep an eye out for any notices on that road as construction season goes forward in Estevan.
At the end of the day, Boyle is hoping that this work will help keep Rafferty Dam running for a long time to come.
"Rafferty is one of our major structures. It's really a key piece of infrastructure for us in the southeast part of the province. It's obviously important for our relationship with our American counterparts. We gotta keep working on that and always improving and always maintaining that important piece of infrastructure."
The WSA recently released their annual runoff report, which showed that Rafferty Reservoir is likely to see an average fill level this year.