A special report was presented to Strathmore town council on Wednesday (Oct. 9) regarding the town's source of water and its storage.
According to the Town of Strathmore, the area gets the majority of its water from the Bow River.
The Bow also services Chestermere, Airdrie, Cochrane, and Calgary.
The report said Strathmore has 201 L/s available through the pipe but is only using 90.4 L/s.
Ethan Wilson, manager of infrastructure with the town mentioned water is treated and delivered to Strathmore through a pipeline by the East Calgary Regional Waterline.
Before 2010, Strathmore treated raw water and stored it in the Brentwood Reservoir and Westmount Reservoir.
For the past five years, the Wildflower Reservoir has been operating at 100 per cent capacity while the Brentwood Reservoir is only at 50 per cent.
According to the town, the water capacity between the two Strathmore reservoirs is 14,500 cubic metres.
Wilson added that from 2020 to 2023, the average day demand for water was 3,920 cubic metres, with a maximum day demand of around 7812 cubic metres.
The report says the town would have water storage capacity issues by 2042 and licensing problems by 2047.
"As of now, we have sufficient water capacity. We have sufficient water license capacity, and we have sufficient water line capacity from the city," says Wilson.
During the report, Wilson said a study has looked into an expansion of the Wildflower Reservoir storage capacity which is separate from the pump upgrades currently in progress.
"Based on today's demand this would increase Wildflower's capacity from 2.9 days of storage to 4.5 days of storage," explained Wilson.
According to Wilson, the project's 6,200 cubic metre expansion would cost between $12 to $15 milllion. However, he says the town's current water licensing plan is the limiting factor of future growth.
Wilson also mentioned the study is looking into an additional reservoir on the east side of Strathmore.
"This reservoir would have a capacity of 21,000 cubic metres. It would come at a cost somewhere between $50 and $60 million and is likely not needed until 2060 or beyond."
Mayor Pat Fule says the current waterline from Calgary is a much more efficient way of bringing water to the town, despite the lifted water restrictions from the past few months.
"Yes, they had a big hiccup this summer. They weren't expecting that waterline to fail. In general, it's a far more efficient, far more affordable source of treated water than us doing it ourselves."
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Councillor Brent Wiley asked about the amount paid by the town to purchase a water license for a 150-home increase.
Wilson says the overall numbers are estimated to be 60,000 cubic metres annually at $600,000 to buy the license.
No decisions on future water sources were made during the meeting.