Preparing for the Dam Rebuild

Williams Lake Dam – Preparing for the Rebuild

by: Cathy Vaughan
[Reprinted with permission from Chebucto News, March 2025]

The Nova Scotia Minister of Public Works, Kim Masland, announced plans to replace the deteriorating Williams Lake dam this past October. Masland made the much anticipated announcement at the Shaw Wilderness Park where the outdated dam is located. The new structure will hold the lake waters to environmentally healthy and recreationally safe levels for this popular urban lake.

Through Build Nova Scotia, the province is investing $4,965 million in a new dam which will protect this popular urban lake’s recreational value within the Shaw Wilderness Park and also preserve its unique and varied ecosystems, wildlife corridors and habitats that rely on the health of Williams Lake.

The new structure will be built to current Canadian dam environmental standards to regulate lake water levels for the safety and recreational use of this popular lake in Halifax. Build Nova Scotia predicted that the work will be in progress over the next three years to limit the impact on the environment, delicate ecosystems, aquatic life and the surrounding neighbourhoods.

In preparing for the rebuild, Build Nova Scotia is consulting with First Nations communities, Provincial Departments of Natural Resources & Renewables, Environment and Climate Change, and the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Last fall, the geotechnical assessment bore holes were drilled and capped at the dam site.

Now Build Nova Scotia is ready to progress to the next phase of the rebuild. They are preparing the access route, needed to move the large heavy construction equipment and vehicles from the Shaw Wilderness Park parking area to the dam, by widening the existing path.

Build Nova Scotia’s Construction Project Managers consulted with HRM Parks representatives at the Shaw Wilderness park in February to examine and discuss the issues of widening the existing path. Tree removal and the re-plant or reinstatement process of the trees along the path was on their agenda. The two groups examined the path and began marking and taping trees that would need to be cut to give enough room for construction crews and machinery to safely maneuver the route to the dam site.

The next construction area to be readied for the rebuild is the dam. The public will be kept informed of phases, progress and changes to the park as Build Nova Scotia prepares the site for replacing the old leaky dam with a new and improved dam.

Minister Brendan Maguire, MLA Halifax Atlantic, has supported the replacement of Williams Lake dam and said, “The work that’s about to be carried out marks an important milestone as we deliver on our commitment to replace Williams Lake Dam. Careful and responsible planning has brought us to this stage, with a project that marks a significant investment in both the safety of the community and the health of the environment.”

The Williams Lake Conservation Company has been working closely with Build Nova Scotia on this project and President Murray Coolican said, “We are confident that Build Nova Scotia will work carefully and sensitively with the land in this park so that this rebuild of the dam will have minimal impact on the forest and maximum beneficial impact for nature, wildlife, and the many folks who love this lake.”