Andre Vryheid's dock on the Bow River sits vacant these days. Dry and far removed from the rescinded waterline of the river for a big chunk of the summer, it's been that way for a few years now.

These days his sailboat can be found on a trailer, parked on the edge of his driveway, ready to transport elsewhere.

The consequences of flood mitigation efforts continue to have a major ramification upon the secluded and serene Ghost Lake Summer Village and to at least Vryheid it has caused endless frustration, concern for the future of the summer village and leaves him with the question of whether he'll ever be able to sell his home.

The 50-year resident is in disbelief that more attention is being paid to compensating TransAlta, operators of the Ghost dam, and the seasonal recreators at the Ghost Reservoir while just west there are people with 100 homes who are impacted by accelerated flood mitigation efforts year-round.

"This spring the water went down even earlier," wrote Vryheid earlier this spring. "There is an awful stink (even inside the house) right now from the rotting lake bottom. There are no longer any migratory birds. As well, last weekend my neighbour who was staying with his 92-year-old father mentioned his water was muddy coming out of the tap which means he will completely lose his running water soon."

"Last year I could not get to my boat to my dock until early August. It didn’t matter as I decided to go elsewhere for the summer. This year I will once again load my boat on a trailer and go elsewhere for my sailing holiday."

A supply of water has since been brought in, as it has for the last few years, to deal with the wells that run dry during low water. The summer village works directly with the Alberta Government to ensure a supply of potable water is made available for those residents who need it (not all do).

With five decades on the waterfront property, Vryheid has seen water levels change but none as drastic and damning as now.

"It would go down a little bit in spring and then when they rebuilt the dam the water remained up except for a slight drop. But even when they dropped it I could still bring my boat right into the breakwater. Now the water isn't high enough until the third or fourth week of July and then it's still very low and it's hard to get in and out and the water. It  has never gone up to its original level in the fall."

"It's hard to call this a waterfront property right now."

Hindsight is perfect, of course, and he wishes he had sold his home for an offer received prior to the 2013 flood. He's had next to no interest expressed since.

In mid-May, though, he did have a showing of his home, the first in a year. It didn't last long.

"They walked into the front yard, took one look and said 'why would we want a waterfront property without water', turned around and left."

He says the few properties that have sold in the village have been at substantially lower prices.

He also eyes the further mitigation actions being considered and in particular draws concern to the idea of raising the Ghost Lake dam.

"That would mean that our entire village would be flooded. I wonder what the plan is to purchase the 100 houses?  Will it be the values before the water was lowered? Even then it would be well over 50 million."

He believes there are other actions officials simply refuse to consider.

"They seem to be really stuck on the idea that they have build reservoirs to prevent a future flooding rather than looking at alternatives such as building berms and digging out the channels. In the long-term, reservoirs are never the answer because eventually your channels will all fill up again and you'll have more floods."

He has come to believe the government is simply not interested in the impact on the village. He admits he's not particularly active in village affairs but has regularly contacted government and TransAlta officials to express his concerns.

"I'd be concerned that they're not interested in it; they haven't been in the past. They don't seem to care a lot about what happens here in the Village of Ghost Lake."

Banff-Cochrane MLA Cam Westhead says there have been discussions with the village since the TransAlta deal was renewed by the province.

"People from the village have been in touch with me and raised the concerns about recreation and water for their homes and also the value of their homes. So we had discussions with the administration to see how we can address those."

Potable water was the first issue addressed. Property values, though, has been more challenging matter, he says.

"That's kind of a tough one because I can see it from the residents perspective. Your home is one of the most valuable assets a person will ever own. Unfortunately, we're not able to help them with that aspect of things."

"The dam is operating within it's licenced parameters, so it's not going lower than what it's licenced for. I really feel for them because I know this is a difficult situation. But on the other hand, we also have to make efforts to protect downtown Calgary from future flooding because it can have such a negative impact on the province and our economy. It's not the ideal situation but it's something we have to move forward on and ensure Calgary is protected, too."

Discussions will be ongoing, though, says Westhead, especially with the government looking at ways to expand upon flood mitigation efforts on the Bow.

"As we move forward and look at other longer-term solutions, there are going to be ongoing discussions about how we move forward and how we can minimize the inconvenience to communities while protecting Calgary at the same time."

In the meantime, Vryheid's sailboat remains on dryland, ready to hit the water elsewhere.