I’m on pins and needles waiting to hear if there is any money in the provincial budget for the regional water pipeline between Okotoks and Calgary.
There have been several times over the past few years we have had positive meetings with Alberta Ministers of Environment, Ministers of Municipal Affairs, Ministers of Infrastructure, Ministers of Transportation and at those times I was convinced that Okotoks would receive funding for a regional water pipeline. Then there would be a shuffle of cabinet ministers or an election and we would be back to square one.
In 2009/10, the province funded 90 per cent of the construction cost for regional water pipelines from Calgary to Chestermere and Strathmore. I have always felt that it was reasonable for the regional water pipeline to Okotoks to be funded the same, especially with the provincial emphasis on economies of scale and regional systems. The long-range thinking is the water connection from Calgary to Okotoks could be the first leg and other municipalities south of Calgary could tie into this regional water system in the future.
There are reasons to be hopeful that the 2016 Alberta budget might have funding for our regional water pipeline. First of all, the name of the funding source in the provincial budget has changed from just Water for Life to Regional Water/Wastewater Projects – Water for Life. This name change sure sounds like our regional water pipeline.
I could be reading too much into it, but I’m taking this name change as a good sign. The other reason I’m optimistic is that there is a significant amount of dollars budgeted under Regional Water/Wastewater Projects – Water for Life. There is $80 million budgeted in 2016 and a total of $400 million over five years. The funding request for the Calgary to Okotoks regional water pipeline is $35 million.
I am also hopeful because the current government has a big focus on environmental stewardship. The Sheep River has a relatively small volume of water when compared with the Bow River. Supplementing our water supply from Calgary’s water system that is fed from the Bow and Elbow rivers has very little impact on that large volume of water. To try and accommodate the growth demand in Okotoks only drawing water from the Sheep River would have a disastrous environmental impact on the Sheep River.
The Okotoks Town Council has been busy talking with every Provincial Minister and MLA we can get in contact with. Our local MLA, Wayne Anderson has raised the funding issue at the legislature often. I know that the need of provincial funding for this regional water project is well known by the provincial government. I’m hopeful that the funding will be there in the current provincial budget but as I mentioned, I’ve been convinced that it was coming in the past and it hasn’t happened yet.
