Val Marie and West Val Marie Dams, Geotechnical Reviews

Corporate Management Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) is the owner/operator of infrastructure and land associated with twenty nine (29) water storage projects in southern Saskatchewan. These works were among the many built between 1935 and 1960 as part of PFRA’s legislated mandate to help stabilize and contribute to the economic security of the drought prone regions of western Canada.

The Val Marie and West Val Marie Dams are located on the Frenchman River near the Town of Val Marie in southwest Saskatchewan. The reservoirs are used primarily for irrigation with some water utilized for Canada’s apportionment share in accordance with the International Boundary Water’s Act 1909. The Frenchman River originates on the south and eastern slopes of the Cypress Hills in southwest Saskatchewan and flows easterly past Eastend and southward after Val Marie before entering the United States, joining the Milk River and eventually the Missouri River.

AAFC manages these dams in accordance with the principles and practices of the Canadian Dam Association (CDA) Dam Safety Guidelines (2007). According to these guidelines, both the Val Marie and West Val Marie Dams are classified as High Consequence and require monitoring efforts meeting industry standards to ensure continued safety of the public and water storage operations. 2010 Dam Safety Reviews also identified the need to modernize the instrumentation and monitoring programs to meet these standards.

For both the Val Marie and West Val Marie Dams, AAFC requires a full geotechnical review. The review shall include drilling to obtain samples for testing in order to complete thorough stability analysis at both sites. The review shall also include an assessment of the geotechnical instrumentation requirements with recommendations for the instrumentation and monitoring programs that can be implemented as part of the drilling program at both sites.