The Hamlet of Cayley could soon be getting water from the Town of High River as a project to build a new pipeline received funding last week.
In early January, the Municipal District of Foothills received approval for grant funding from Alberta Government’s Water for Life program to build a new pipeline connecting Cayley with the Town of High River’s water system.
Cayley’s existing water treatment plant has reached full capacity can no longer meet Alberta Environment water standards from 2012 onwards, said MD municipal manager Harry Riva Cambrin.
“The plant has reached its limits,” he said. “We couldn’t allow any more new lots in Cayley unless we were going to build a new water treatment plant.”
The options were to either build a new water treatment plant or connect Cayley to the Town of High River’s system, Riva Cambrin said.
Council opted for the pipeline.
“A new plant is not that much cheaper than a water line, and on top of that your operating costs are substantially higher,” Riva Cambrin explained. “So, if you look at net benefit over a few years, the pipeline pays for itself.”
The application for funding for the new pipeline was submitted three years ago, Riva Cambrin said, “So it’s been quite a while in the works.”
Now that funding has been approved, Riva Cambrin said there are still some steps that need to happen before construction gets underway.
“We have to confirm with the Town of High River that they are prepared to provide the water for the pipeline and allow us to connect to their system,” he said.
“Secondly, we have water licences for Cayley that need to be transferred onto the High River system.”
Once those steps have taken place, Riva Cambrin said he is hopeful construction will begin either late this year or in early 2012. The pipeline should be operating not long after, he added.
“Maybe 90 to 120 days,” he said. “It’s not that big of a job. They can put in pipelines pretty quick nowadays.”
While the grant funding received from the province is just under $3 million, Riva Cambrin said the cost of the project is estimated at about $3.1 million.
“The grant covers about 90 per cent of the cost of the pipeline, so there’s about $400,000 that won’t be covered,” he said.
As a result, Cayley residents could see an increase in their water bills over the next few years to cover the cost of the new pipeline.
