Feds, Sask. invest $54M in water and wastewater projects

The federal and provincial governments announced more than $54 million in funding for eight water and wastewater projects in Saskatchewan on Tuesday.

Each government is to contribute up to $27,370,034 for the eight projects through the New Building Canada Fund. Any remaining costs are to be covered by the funding recipients.

“Modern water and wastewater infrastructure is essential to safeguarding the well-being of Canadian families and building the Canada we want for tomorrow,” Ralph Goodale, the federal minister of public safety and emergency preparedness, said in a media release.

“Our government has ramped up new investments in Saskatchewan communities’ water and wastewater systems that will help protect the environment, keep people healthy, and bolster economic growth.”

“We’re looking at communities now that have been established for 100 to 125 years and some have infrastructure that was built about that time,” Warren Kaeding, Saskatchewan’s government relations minister, added during a media event at the legislative building.

Among the projects being funded are an upgrade of the water treatment plant in Melfort, an improvement of the wastewater treatment and water distribution systems in Martensville, a new water treatment plant in Maple Creek, wastewater lagoon upgrades in Kindersley, drinking water system upgrades in Blaine Lake, and upgrades to the sanitary sewer systems in both Yorkton and North Battleford.

North Battleford Mayor Ryan Bater said the system can’t handle any more water, especially during storms. Many of the pipes are more than 100 years old and fail on a regular basis.

“Right now, during wet times, we’re at full capacity. We have flooding in our city, sewer backups — our city cannot grow any bigger than it currently is,” said Bater.

The funding will help replace six kilometres of its sewer trunk main which leads to the wastewater treatment plant.

Yorkton is in a similar situation and has been focused on flood prevention since flooding forced evacuations in 2010. Mayor Bob Maloney said while the spring snow melt doesn’t often pose a risk, a heavy storm with several inches of rain does.

“Without this funding, we’re at risk again of flooding the downtown,” Maloney said.

The project in Yorkton will involve drainage and dredging, a new bridge and replacing 100-year-old culverts.