Transalta says marina renting boats, paddle boards on Bearspaw reservoir a danger

Located along the banks of the Bow River in Haskayne Legacy Park just outside of the Rocky View County (RVC) community of Bearspaw, sits the newly installed Bearspaw Marina. 

For the last couple of months of the summer season, people have been able to rent kayaks, paddle boards, and peddle boats to take on the water and enjoy one of the more beautiful areas of the Calgary metropolitan region. 

But an ongoing battle over the legitimacy of the Bearspaw Marina has put the future of the new recreation destination into question. 

Rick Skauge has been a resident of the Bearspaw area for 30 years. It was there, on the Bow River, where he met and befriended Dick Haskayne, a prominent Alberta businessman and the future namesake of the University of Calgary’s school of business and the aforementioned Haskayne Legacy Park.

Skauge was inspired to install a marina on the water to give people in the community an access point to the Bow River that they had not had for years. He installed a dock and in August the marina was open for business. 

This move was soon followed by opposition. TransAlta, the company that collects energy from the Bearspaw Dam, also owns the land adjacent to the reservoir, land on which easement is needed to cross. However, Skauge said a public access road that pre-dates TransAlta's ownership of the land gives him and the public access to the water. 

TransAlta has partnered with the City and Calgary to oppose the installation of the Skauge’s marina.

Skauge told the Rocky View Weekly that TransAlta cited safety concerns; the marina is too close to the dam and therefore endangers marina users. 

“It became quite obvious to me that TransAlta was not going to allow me an easement over their land to allow me to put the boats in the water,” Skauge said. “Regardless of whether we had endorsement from the City of Calgary or the County of Rocky View.”  

“My marina is not endangering [TransAlta’s] ability to produce power, it's two and a half miles away from the dam. So they don't really have a say if we can have a dock or not,” he added.  

Responding to TransAlta’s request that the marina be removed from the water, Skauge sent a letter to TransAlta’s legal counsel, saying that he had no intention of removing the dock. 

“[We] have every right to access the Bearspaw Reservoir,” Skauge’s letter reads.

According to Skauge, the marina is not considered a “major work”, as defined by Transport Canada, and therefore meets the criteria needed by Transport Canada for marina installation.   

The letter continues: “Transalta does not have exclusive use of the reservoir. When it comes to putting a dock on a federal waterway, Transport Canada has the final say, not TransAlta.”

Responding to inquiries from the Rocky View Weekly, TransAlta said in a statement that “safety is their top priority.” 

“The Marina is located on the Bearspaw Reservoir, near an active hydro-electric facility and the drinking water intakes for the City of Calgary,” the statement reads. 

“The water near these facilities can be unpredictable as changing water levels and currents can create hazardous conditions,” TransAlta said. “Appropriate emergency response resources are not readily available as they are unable to access the area should their services be needed.”

The company added that the Bearspaw Marina has not been approved and does not have permission to cross their property.

“To address the safety concerns, TransAlta is working with the local municipalities on a coordinated response to the situation. In the meantime, TransAlta strongly encourages people to refrain from using the Bearspaw Marina,” the statement reads.

The City of Calgary reinforced TransAlta’s stance on the marina, again citing safety concerns. 

“The City of Calgary supports our partner TransAlta on their approach to addressing the Bearspaw Marina,” a City of Calgary spokesperson wrote to the Rocky View Weekly. “Due to the reservoir being located outside of Calgary’s city limits, [the City] discourages people from recreating on the water because we are not able to respond to an emergency. The safety of Calgarians and the broader community is always a top priority, and we continue to work with TransAlta to help promote safe activity in the area.”

According to Skauge, the marina meets the conditions necessary for its installation. Skauge also told the City of Calgary that the installation of the marina did not require approval from Alberta Environment. 

“The City has no jurisdiction on the reservoir because it’s not in the City,” Skauge wrote in a letter to Kyle Ripley, the Director of Parks and Open Spaces for the City of Calgary. “The County [of Rocky View]...has no interest in making rulings on a federal waterway. The only other participant is a public company that doesn’t want any paddle boats on the reservoir, and claims there are dire risks to recreational boating on the reservoir, even though [I] have boated there for decades and are not aware of one drowning.”

Skauge said TransAlta is still working with the City to remove the Bearspaw Marina from the water, but they haven’t been successful. In letters to the City, Skauge said he’s happy to work with the City on their issues of concern, but he’s committed to “getting the kids on the lake and keeping them there.” 

“We don't need TransAlta's access for the public to get to the water, we're in the water,” Skauge said. “Anything they want to do to get the kids off the lake is up to them now.”