The City of Cranbrook has submitted applications to the B.C. government for two Crown land tenures required for the new Gold Creek Dam.
Back in 2022, the city hired an engineering firm to complete the detailed design and permitting process of a new dam.
The city needed to have detailed design drawings, a construction sequencing plan, geotechnical engineering reports and environmental assessments among other documents completed before construction could be considered on the project.
They also had to submit the tenure applications for the dam structure and reservoir as well as the gravel and sand aggregate borrow area, since they are located on provincial land.
The city has spent approximately $600,000 on the design and approvals.
The updated project cost based on the design is $14,000,000, including a 40 per cent contingency.
City staff said they have also sent a letter to the provincial and federal government to advocate for grant funding.
If they can’t get external funding, council and the community will have to decide on a funding path.
The current dam is old and in poor condition.
Roads and infrastructure manager Curtis Mummery said a new dam will greatly improve capacity.
“The current structure was originally designed to have about 30 megalitres of storage, but the current state of it now it has maybe one or two megalitres at maximum,” he said.
“The new structure would equate to about 200 megalitres of storage, so it’s a significant increase. It will allow us to maximize the operation and the use of the amount of water we are allowed to take from Gold Creek, which we are definitely not using to its full potential with the water licensing we have.”
The Gold Creek diversion is currently responsible for approximately 44 per cent of the community’s water.