Shelley,

Did you know that the city’s stormwater management master plan (published in 2004) includes a $10 million plan spaced out over 10 years to install grit separators at the most critical stormwater outfalls along the river? A succession of councils, including the current one, have ignored the requirement, preferring to spend tax dollars on higher priority issues like multi-million dollar birthday parties and artificial turf.

It’s not by far the greatest threat to the Sturgeon River but the sand and silt that washes from St. Albert streets into the river is having a significant impact. Walk the Red Willow trails and have a look at some of the outfalls and you’ll see the evidence. It’s deliberate negligence and would be prosecuted if we had senior governments in this country and province that were enfocing the laws on the books and regulating like they should to protect the environment.

So there is one specific thing that you could do as mayor to improve the river and that would be to finally have the grit separators mandated by the city’s stormwater management master plan installed.