NOTE: This ‘news’ is now about 10 days old. However, there is some additional information in this article that did not appear in the two previous articles (from Rocky Mountain Outlook and Calgary Herald) that we posted in July.
Spray hydroelectric failure closes Goat Creek trail
By Hamish MacLean
The Banff Craig & Canyon
July 29 2011
Due to a water release from TransAlta a popular trail, with a trailhead just south of Canmore is closed.
Andrew Rees, Bow district conservation officer said that the trail is closed is from the Goat Creek trailhead through to the Spray River junction.
The majority of the closure is in Banff National Park, but the "big access point" to the trail is in provincial lands.
"We're just kind of assisting (Banff National Park) in their closure," Rees said.
The closed trail follows Goat Creek, which is experiencing high water flow which is damaging the structural integrity of bridges in the area.
There are sandwich boards and tape indicating that the trail is closed.
Glen Whelan, TransAlta spokesman, said that a confluence of a number of events have lead to the current situation.
"We're not pleased to be in this situation but we're working diligently to make sure that we smooth it out as soon as possible," he said.
With one of two units at the Spray hydroelectric plant down for maintenance, in late May the second unit failed, causing it to go offline. This stopped the flows from the Spray system into the Bow River through the Rundle canal.
This was compounded by the season's weather irregularities.
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