Deal will provide water for mega-mall project

The water woes that have stalleda mega-mall project in the Municipal District of Rocky View near Calgary may be coming to an end.

The $1-billion project has been on hold since the town of Drumheller in southern Alberta refused to treat and pipe water from the Red Deer River for the mall.

But a new agreement calls for the Western Irrigation District to provide some of its water allowance from the Bow River to the mall.

That's being made possible by a new pressurized pipeline that will help conserve water by reducing evaporation and seepage from an existing canal.

As a result, the western district will transfer some of the water it's saving to Rocky View, which will pass it on to the mall.

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has said the project which features two horse-racing tracks, a casino and a shopping centre won't get more than $8 million in government funding without a water licence.

Liberal MLA David Swann is calling for a plebiscite on the issue, telling CBC News the water is badly needed for other purposes.

"It's only less than half of what they need in the full development of this, so where is the rest of the water coming from? And how are we are going to proceed in a manner which tells Albertans that we have a plan for water management and land use in the future."