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Funding needed to build Priddis pipeline

Priddis-area pipeline is pending engineering studies and grant funding to cover a portion of the $20-million project.
Suzanne Oel 0482
Foothills County Reeve Suzanne Oel said the Priddis-area pipeline is pending engineering studies and grant funding to cover a portion of the $20-million project. (BRENT CALVER/Western Wheel)

An inability to secure funding is behind delays in beginning a phased pipeline project that would bring potable water to the Priddis region.

The project has been in the works for a few years, and residents of the area met with MLA Miranda Rosin on Sept. 2 to discuss the possibility getting things flowing from the Fish Creek Ranch water treatment plant to the west country this year.

Ed Osborne, an area resident and member of the Fish Creek Watershed Management group, said most residents are onboard.

“There are a lot of people, it looks like, who are interested in this topic, both from environmental quality perspective at Fish Creek and also from a resident concern about access to good quality, potable water,” said Osborne.

He said some areas around Priddis have access to good water via quality wells, but many others are either paying high costs to drill deeper and get still poor quality water or drawing from shallow groundwater near Fish Creek, where biological studies have shown water quality is severely diminished at some points during the year.

As a biologist-agrologist and a fisherman, Osborne said reading the reports raised a red flag for him.

“There’s so much E. coli in that water you don’t want to be tying your fish flies with your teeth or walking around in running shoes without chest-waders,” he said. “Some of the numbers for E. coli at some points in the year are shocking, and people are actually drinking this slop.”

He said the pipeline project is largely based on quality, though it would also help secure quantity of supply in the Priddis area, where the Fish Creek could potentially provide enough water if managed properly but smaller sources like Priddis Creek dry up during hot weather and heavy demand.

At this point, he said the watershed management group is hoping to learn from neighbours in the area whether they perceive a water supply problem, but with COVID restrictions it’s been difficult to get people together to discuss the issues.

“You don’t necessarily want to build a $20-million pipeline if nobody wants it, that would be crazy,” said Osborne. “But if people really need it, you want to actually know that as well.”

He said the Sept. 2 meeting seemed promising and Rosin was in support of the project but indicated the work would have to be initiated by Foothills County.

Reeve Suzanne Oel, who represents the Div. 4 area where the project is proposed, said there’s a long history and the County has been making strides, though each move takes time.

“We’ve made significant efforts to improve water availability by setting up the Fish Creek Ranch bulk fill water station,” said Oel. “We also purchased the off-stream water storage reservoir that used to be in private ownership, so we brought that into the County ownership and we’ve investigated piped potable water options over the years.”

Waterline cost studies were conducted in 2017, working with the residents to see whether a local improvement fee structure could be used to cover expenses of bringing potable water to the area. The cost was determined to be too much, at which point the scope was broadened to include properties along Highway 762 as well, she said.

This piqued the interest of residents, who were solicited by Osborne and the watershed management group, and resulted in studies and reports being conducted in 2018.

These high-level studies were used to apply for the Building Canada grant, but the funding request was refused in 2019, she said. The grant would have seen the costs split with one-third paid by the federal government, one-third by the Province and one-third by the municipality through local improvement fees.

While the County is still pursuing grants in 2020, it has decided to break the project into three phases to start with a smaller section, in the Highway 762-Fish Creek Ranch area where there is some water licence availability, she said. Phase two would be along Highway 22 including Fish Creek Estates, and the third phase encompasses Priddis Greens, Hawk’s Landing, Rancher’s Hill and the hamlet of Priddis.

Costs for the first and second phases are $5 million each, and the third phase would cost more than $7 million, she said.

“We could work with that area to secure a starting point and look at some of our most water-challenged area, which is directly in that area near the FCR and north to include Leisure Lake,” said Oel.

In May, County council acknowledged the residents’ interest in continuing the investigation of water solutions around Priddis and the West Country, and proceeded with engineering tendering, she said.

The County was set to receive stimulus funding from the government and thought part of the costs may be covered, but was given less than expected at $2.7 million, she said.

“We had other projects that were higher on the list of projects council had put forward,” said Oel.

With studies not yet completed, the waterline was unable to take priority at this time, she said. There could be a second batch of stimulus funding, but the amount allocated to the County is unknown.

Gas tax could also be used, she said, or Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding, though MSI could be reduced this year.

“If that’s going to happen, it’s going to be pretty hard to send that over to the water project,” said Oel.

She said the Building Canada grant could be pursued again, and other grants are also on the County’s radar, but they currently have backlists. In the case of the provincial Water for Life grant, Oel said it is “extra over-subscribed” and likely not a viable option.

The issue continues to be on council’s mind, despite not being started immediately, she said.

“The residents are still sending us photos of the red bathtub water and such showing they are still concerned about their water quality and quantity,” said Oel. “We’ve known that in the past and it hasn’t been a first area for development, knowing the quality of water. We recognize that.”

In the meantime, the County continues to work on acquiring water licences, she said.

Krista Conrad, OkotoksToday.ca

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