The water access point for dogs at Lacombe Lake Park is so well-used in the summer months that city council approved a $150,000 funding request on Feb. 20 to remediate and reinforce the shoreline, and stabilize the water quality.
Coun. Mike Killick said he was pleased to see administration bring the project forward, saying the dog beach area “is a mess.”
“I was babysitting our son's dog this past summer and you could clearly see that it's eroded and worn out,” Killick said. “It is a service level that residents, I think, have come to expect, but we don't want it to keep wrecking the shoreline.”
Heavy usage of the access point at Lacombe Lake — known as the dog beach — has caused “significant erosion” of the shoreline, making its continued use by dogs and dog owners difficult, according to a staff report to council.
The report says it has also led to “increased sedimentation in the lake, which contributes to algal blooms, including blue-green algae, which is toxic to humans and dogs and results in closing the lake and access area when algal are present.”
“The lake is inspected weekly in warmer weather, with closures required from 2019-2021 and again in 2023 due to blue-green algae deposits.”
To make lake entry easier for dogs and dog owners, and to reduce algal blooms, administration proposed to council a concrete slab be installed on the beach as a new water access measure.
“Putting in more of a permanent cement ramp might be the permanent long-term solution,” Killick said.
Administration also proposed vegetated riprap on the affected shoreline. Riprap is the intentional installation of rocks and boulders to bolster the strength of a shoreline, and, according to Watersheds Canada, vegetated riprap simply refers to the planting of vegetation in the riprap to stabilize the rocks and benefit the habitat of the lake's resident fish.
“The dog water access project will also include changes in signage, fencing, planting and site monitoring to mitigate fishing-related hazards,” the report to council reads, noting the city has heard concerns from dog owners about errant fishing line and hooks.
To fund the project, administration asked council's standing committee of the whole to approve the use of $150,000 from the city's dog licence reserve, which is kept to maintain off-leash areas and other dog-related development. Not including a $150,000 withdrawal, the reserve has a balance of $500,000.
Administration's report states the project won't “fully resolve issues of water quality,” and there might be some additional work done in the future to manage the situation.
“Continued and sustained dog access to [the lake] is likely to contribute to enhanced sedimentation which leads to algal growth,” the report reads.
If need be, administration might also bring forward some changes to the city's parks bylaw to constrain dog water access to only the dog beach part of the lake, which might improve water quality and dog safety, the report says.
