There is renewed hope that a regional waterline could be closer than ever after the province announced new funding for the Water for Life program.
Last week, the Government of Alberta committed an additional $100 million over five years in Water for Life funding.
“I'm quite excited. I've had a number of meetings with the minister and deputy minister and the waterline project between Cold Lake and Bonnyville is a very high priority on our list but it's also now a high priority on the provincial list,” said Bonnyville Mayor Gene Sobolewski.
After former Minister of Environment and Sustainable Resources Robin Campbell made the announcement in February 2014 that Cold Lake would be an acceptable water source for the region, the water infrastructure application was submitted to the province that spring. Despite local dignitaries working hard to see some movement on the project, the waterline has repeatedly been put on hold.
“We've been really pushing quite hard and putting our case forward in terms of the sustainability of Moose Lake and the water quality, which (has been) continually deteriorating over the last five years. There's a need to move forward doing something because our water treatment plant – every year that goes by that's another year beyond its service life,” expressed Sobolewski.
In addition to the poor state of the water treatment plant, new rules and regulations continually being implemented means that sooner or later upgrades will need to happen. At that time, Sobolewski said that leaves them with two options: either construct a waterline or come up with the dollars to fund the necessary updates to the plant.
“It's already a dire situation. At some point in time our water treatment plant isn't going to keep up with the new regulations and then there's going to be the requirement of an investment for an upgrade, which doesn't make sense because the lake itself has proven to be not sustainable for the long term, particularly with it's very poor recharge rate.”
In addition to the Water for Life funding, the province also said during the announcement that the Alberta Municipal Water/Wastewater Partnership will increase by $70 million over five years. Both programs provide funds to municipalities with populations of less than 45,000 to help in the construction of municipal water supple and treatment.
President of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) Al Kemmere said the province's commitment to these programs is a huge win for rural communities.
“Quality water and wastewater infrastructure is critical for community and industrial development as well as the safety of Albertans. Due to their large geographic areas, building and maintaining water and wastewater infrastructure in rural municipalities is technically challenging and expensive,” Kemmere said following the announcement.
He added, “As such, the AAMDC is pleased that the Government of Alberta is providing increased water and wastewater infrastructure funding, which will support the growth and sustainability of rural and small urban communities throughout Alberta.”
Now that the additional funding for the program has been announced, the next step for the region is making sure their project is noticed and in the minds of politicians when they decide who will get approved. Should the project get the go-ahead, there will still be a number of issues that have to be ironed out before they can move forward with construction.
“It's not just about putting a waterline in. We also have to go through the governance structure as to what sort of entity is going to look after it and then we also have to satisfy the regulatory requirements. That's normally incorporated into the engineering process and that's probably going to take about a year,” Sobolewski explained.
Cold Lake city council recently voted in favour of conducting an independent analysis of Cold Lake before it becomes a regional water source. Sobolewski noted that wouldn't have any affect on the timeline of the project, as the process with Alberta Environment has already been executed.
“There may be some negotiations and some work that needs to be done with regards to discussing the tie-in and things of that nature. There's always other options that can be looked at and I'm hoping it doesn't become too much of a burden.”
Optimistically, if the regional waterline is approved under Water for Life, water could be flowing through the pipeline in as soon as two to three years if everything goes smoothly.
While it's too early to celebrate quite yet, Sobolewski believes the region is closer than ever to getting started on this much-anticipated $72 million project.
“It's very important. This has been the number one project for probably the last seven years in the town and beyond the seven years, it was in the top three. This has been very important for the town and also for the region now.”
