BUFFALO POUND DAM MAKEOVER UNDER WAY

Released on December 3, 1999

Sask Water has awarded contracts totaling $1.5 million to replace its Buffalo

Pound Lake outlet control structure.



The new control structure, used to spill water from the provincial park lake

into the east-flowing Qu'Appelle River, will feature three spillway gates, a

new concrete traffic bridge for vehicles to pass over and a fish ladder,

forming a fish migration passageway between the lake and the river.



In addition to this year's work, Sask Water plans to raise the 60-year-old,

1,500-metre-long dam by approximately half a metre in 2000.



Buffalo Pound Lake, situated northeast of Moose Jaw, provides water to the

cities of Moose Jaw and Regina, several smaller communities and two major Belle

Plaine-area industries – Saskferco and IMC Kalium.



"The outlet structure has served its purpose admirably for 60 years, but the

time has come to replace the entire structure to make sure people in Moose Jaw,

Regina and area continue to have a reliable water supply," explained Maynard

Sonntag, minister responsible for Sask Water. "Buffalo Pound supplies water to

approximately 25 per cent of the province's population. This project is

important to a significant number of people."



Work on the project is expected to wrap up by mid-summer 2000.



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For more information, contact:



Bob Parker

Sask Water

Moose Jaw

Phone: (306) 694-3029