By year's end the work was well under way with an access road to the site completed and the first big contract on the dam itself ready for approval. It will impound 8,000,000 acre-feet of water in a lake that will be 180 feet deep at its deepest point. The water will eventually irrigate 600,000 acres of semi-arid farm land and produce 375,000,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. After the signing of the agreement in Regina July 14, and a subsequent signing by the government at Ottawa, it didn't take long for work to start. Subsequent contracts called for building the substructure of a temporary bridge across the river and stripping earth from a gravel deposit at the site.
Builders are fortunate in that the earth and clay needed for the fill are available close by.
Smith Brothers and Wilson Limited, of Regina, now are constructing an engineering and administration building, laboratory, staff house, garage and warehouse, assembly building and 38 houses for the administrative staff. The houses will include plumbing and heating and will be salvaged when the dam is finished, possibly to alleviate the housing shortage in Saskatchewan cities. It is hoped they will be finished by spring. Most of the material required in the contract will come from various pits within a mile of the site. Whereas farmers in the district now raise mostly wheat, with a herd of cattle as a sideline, they will concentrate on cattle under irrigation.