The Quill Lakes flooding mitigation project won't send saline water into Last Mountain Lake, Quill Lakes Watershed Association Chair Kerry Holderness said.

"The project in itself is very small compared to the water bodies it's going to. In conjunction, if you do it at the right time when the creeks are flowing in the spring, the dilution factor should probably fix this before it gets to Last Mountain Lake."

The Quill Lakes have become oversaturated with dissolved solids as water dissolved year after year instead of flowing out, he said.

The association proposes to build a 25-kilometre drainage diversion channel to redirect surface water from Kutawagan Lake and Pel Lake towards Last Mountain Lake, according to an environment ministry decision laying out why the project doesn't require an environmental assessment.

The association estimates the channel would divert around seven million cubic metres of surface water towards Lake Mountain Lake and lower the lakes by 0.6 metres.

They’re trying to get ahead on Quill Lake flooding before it spills into Last Mountain Lake, Holderness said.

"We’ve had a severe rise in water, close to seven metres in the last 13 years. At this spring's peak level we were only half a metre from going over. That means we’re maybe one rain event or a 2010/11 event from the lakes flowing over naturally into Last Mountain Lake."

A final proposal - which will include deep well injection - will be released when it’s ready, and he had hoped some preliminary work could be done as early as this month, he said.

“We haven't been approved and there’s lots of things we have to go through yet. The province is very strict on making sure we do everything properly."