Golf course to capture flood water for irrigation

An off-line pond capturing flood water from the spring run-off and heavy rainstorms could be the answer to the irrigation needs of Kitchen Creek golf course without upsetting its neighbours.
Greens committee chair Rick Payne said the golf course has given up any plans for drawing water directly from the creek, noting the water flow through there is too low during most of the year.
But an off-line pond could capture the excess water when Kitchen Creek floods in the spring–water which then could be saved for irrigation purposes later without affecting the creek itself.
“It isn’t something that we can just start digging a hole in the ground,” Payne said, noting an engineer is being sought for advice on the project.
“The storage area that we’re planning on doing, as soon as we get the advice we need to go ahead and do it, is not going to be connected in any way to the [creek],” Payne said.
“It’s just going to be a hole in the ground.”
Payne also stressed the course was not even going to think about breaking ground until it gets all the permits in place from the various government ministries.
But the plan is very promising, he noted, considering it could provide a significant volume of water without affecting the creek.
“The size of the pond is going to be dictated by the slope of the land and how deep to go,” he explained. “It’s likely going to be off the west side of the creek.”
Payne mentioned the off-line pond option several times during last Wednesday’s public information session at the Crozier Hall, and he never received any negative comments concerning it.
“I really can’t anticipate what kind of opposition there would be to it because I don’t know how anyone would be against it,” he said.