Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

Moose Jaw

A prolonged, severe algae bloom is causing 'musty' tap water for Regina, Moose Jaw consumers

A prolonged, severe algae bloom is causing 'musty' tap water for Regina, Moose Jaw consumers

The tap water in the Regina and Moose Jaw areas might smell funky and taste a little off these days, but the people responsible for the water say it's still safe to drink. There has been a prolonged and severe bloom of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) at Buffalo Pound Lake, which is where the tap water comes from, "These organisms produce some compounds, chemical compounds, that produce the taste and odours that people describe as algae or musty," said Blair Kardash, who is the laboratory manager at the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant. 

Algae blooms behind Regina and Moose Jaw's musty water: Buffalo Pound water treatment plant

Algae blooms behind Regina and Moose Jaw's musty water: Buffalo Pound water treatment plant

Early algae blooms are to blame for the musty water some people are noticing in Regina and Moose Jaw these days, according to experts at the Buffalo Pound water treatment plant, which services both cities. Blair Kardash, the plant's manager of laboratory and research, told CBC News his team first detected the "odour materials" from the growing algae in Buffalo Pound Lake — where the water comes from before it's filtered — at the end of April.

Buffalo Pound water plant renewal project officially underway

Buffalo Pound water plant renewal project officially underway

Construction has officially begun on the $325.6-million Buffalo Pound water treatment plant renewal project. A number of MLAs, mayors, board members, employees and more were in attendance for the first shovels hitting the ground in Buffalo Pound Monday. The plant will serve communities such as Regina, Moose Jaw, Grand Coulee, Pense, Bethune and several other communities with clean drinking water. In total, more than 260,000 people in the area will access the water. “This treatment plant has served the residents of Regina and Moose Jaw with safe, high-quality drinking water and frankly we don’t exist without it,” said Regina Mayor Sandra Masters.

Aecon joint venture awarded contract for the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant Renewal Project in Saskatchewan

Aecon joint venture awarded contract for the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant Renewal Project in Saskatchewan

Aecon Group Inc. (TSX: ARE) announced today that Graham-Aecon Joint Venture, a 50/50 consortium between Aecon and Graham Construction, has been awarded a $273 million design-build contract by the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Corporation (BPWTC) for the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant Renewal Project near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Aecon's share of the contract will be added to its Construction segment backlog in the second quarter of 2022.

Riverhurst Ferry in Sask. beached indefinitely because of low water levels

Riverhurst Ferry in Sask. beached indefinitely because of low water levels

Spring is well underway in Saskatchewan, but one of the province's busiest ferries still hasn't been able to open. The Riverhurst Ferry, located northwest of Moose Jaw, typically transports about 30,000 vehicles annually over the South Saskatchewan River, according to the Ministry of Highways, which operates the vessel. But water levels are too low for it to begin operations. Levels in Lake Diefenbaker are about a metre-and-a-half below normal for this time of year, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Highways. Diefenbaker is a human-made lake, located north of the Riverhurst Ferry and fed by the South Saskatchewan River.

USask researcher’s cutting-edge buoy aims to secure water source for Regina and Moose Jaw

USask researcher’s cutting-edge buoy aims to secure water source for Regina and Moose Jaw

The independent board of directors of the plant, owned by the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw, in collaboration with plant president and CEO Ryan Johnson, has approved the purchase of a custom-designed $250,000 high-tech buoy that’s been nicknamed Superbuoy. It comes equipped with research-grade weather and atmospheric monitors, and an array of winter-hardy water quality sensors for year-round use.

Saskatchewan water treatment plant first in Canada to use progressive design-build format

Saskatchewan water treatment plant first in Canada to use progressive design-build format

A planned major upgrade for south Saskatchewan’s Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant marks the first time in Canada that a progressive design-build format will be used in the construction of such a facility. “This format is more commonly used in the United States,” Buffalo Pound president and CEO Ryan Johnson points out. “Design-build presents inherent risks in terms of cost. Progressive design-build gives us more control over the outcome.”

Buffalo Pound water treatment plant to get $222-million overhaul

Buffalo Pound water treatment plant to get $222-million overhaul

The Buffalo Pound water treatment plant, which supplies drinking water to nearly a quarter of Saskatchewan residents, is getting $222 million in upgrades to refurbish its aging infrastructure. The project is expected to start construction in early 2022, with costs being split across several levels of government. Ottawa will contribute $89 million, Saskatchewan will chip in $74 million and the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Corporation, which is owned by the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw, will contribute $59 million.

Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant to explore use of orthophosphate to combat lead

Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant to explore use of orthophosphate to combat lead

Cities can lower the amount of lead dissolving into residents’ water either by making their water less acidic by adjusting pH levels or adding orthophosphate to the water, which creates a protective film inside plumbing reducing the amount of lead that leaches into the water. A pilot program to begin sometime this year will look at using orthophosphate in both Regina and Moose Jaw as a way to mitigate risks of lead service connections (LSCs) present in both cities. “I am assuming there is benefit, but we have to confirm that there is,” said Ryan Johnson, president and CEO of the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant in an interview Thursday.

Canada’s troubled waters

Canada’s troubled waters

In 2015, Regina and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, had to ration water supplies due to an inability to treat a toxic algae bloom in Buffalo Pound Lake, which supplies drinking water to both cities. In 2016, a summer drought led to water restrictions in southern Ontario and Nova Scotia, and in 2018 stringent water restrictions were imposed on many southern Alberta communities and farms due to reduced river flows. Even Vancouver, a city perched on the edge of a rainforest, has recently begun rationing summer water use due to a combination of rising consumer demand and a shrinking of the mountain snowpack that supplies the city’s reservoir.

Spring runoff potential varies across Saskatchewan from well below normal to above normal

Spring runoff potential varies across Saskatchewan from well below normal to above normal

Most of southern Saskatchewan has the potential for a below to well below normal spring runoff, according to preliminary data released Friday by the Water Security Agency. The north, however, could experience a normal to above normal runoff. The WSA said it bases its estimates on a number of factors, including conditions at freeze-up and the snowpack. Most of the southern regions experienced very dry conditions last summer and into the fall, and the snowpack is near normal to below normal. The WSA says this projects to a below normal runoff for an area covering Prince Albert, Saskatoon and Melfort, dipping as far south as Maple Creek and Val Marie.


Testing the waters: Do Regina's asbestos-cement water mains pose a risk?

Testing the waters: Do Regina's asbestos-cement water mains pose a risk?

Snaking beneath Regina's streets are 600 kilometres of water mains built with asbestos-cement. That's about 60 per cent of some 1,000 kilometres of the mains that deliver water to homes around the city. Increasingly, some scientists and communities are questioning the wisdom in having drinking water flowing through pipes constructed from asbestos fibres.

Liberal MPs call on Ottawa to tackle ‘national public health crisis’ of lead in drinking water

Liberal MPs call on Ottawa to tackle ‘national public health crisis’ of lead in drinking water

A group of federal Liberal MPs are asking their government to invest up to $400 million to combat the “health crisis” of lead-contaminated drinking water which was exposed in communities across the country by a national investigation by 10 media outlets, including Global News and the Toronto Star. An open letter written by Hamilton MP Bob Bratina says the government “can and must” direct a portion of infrastructure spending designed to revitalize the post-COVID-19 economy into the “national public health crisis we face in the form of lead-contaminated drinking water.”

Securing Water for the City

Securing Water for the City

It's a big project that has been on the books for a number of years, but the cost and logistics of the project kept it from being moved into the budget. But with a growing concern of securing clean, safe drinking water around the world, the City of Moose Jaw is close to completing a new water transmission line that should provide that resource to the community for many years to come.

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