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.
Water quality researcher and engineer Dr. David McCarthy has been announced as the new Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Waterborne Pathogens: Surveillance, Prediction and Mitigation at the University of Guelph, supported by $8 million in federal funding over eight years. McCarthy brings his expertise in mitigating the risks of waterborne pathogens with tools and technologies to U of G where he will join the School of Environmental Sciences within the Ontario Agricultural College.
A southwestern Manitoba First Nation is using $12 million in federal funding to ensure on-reserve members have access to potable water for generations to come. Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller was in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, located 260 kilometres west of Winnipeg, Tuesday announcing $12 million in federal funding to help build water and wastewater system upgrades.
Arizona, California and Nevada on Monday proposed a plan to significantly reduce their water use from the drought-stricken Colorado River over the next three years, a potential breakthrough in a year-long stalemate over how to deal with a rising problem that pitted Western states against one another. The plan would conserve an additional 3 million acre-feet of water from the 1,450-mile river that provides water to 40 million people in seven U.S. states, parts of Mexico and more than two dozen Native American tribes.
The City of Yellowknife says the cost of a new underwater pipeline to its municipal water source has risen from $34 million to $57 million in the four years since federal funding was received. The city has almost $26 million in federal cash from a disaster mitigation fund to put toward the pipeline from the Yellowknife River to its treatment facility. Initially, that left the city with $8 million to find. But a fresh assessment of the project puts the bill at $23 million more than was first thought in 2019, before the pandemic and various global supply chain issues. Under its agreement with the federal government, the city has to find all of that extra cash – a total of $31 million once you add the cost increase to the initial $8 million.
Oneida Nation of the Thames, a First Nation just south of London, Ont., that has been on a boil-water advisory since 2019, has secured $43 million in federal funding to bring treated drinking water to the community. The connection to the Lake Huron Primary Water System will supply potable water to more than 500 homes and public buildings to the community, which is home to nearly 2,200 residents.
Today, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, and the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Mayor of the City of Edmonton, announced more than $22 million in federal funding to help to reduce flood risk and damage in Edmonton. The project includes improvements that will help mitigate potential flooding hazards at the city's Gold Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant. Three new backwater prevention outfall gates will prevent river water from flowing back into the wastewater treatment plant during storm events, and a flood barrier along the northern edge of the plant will minimize flooding risks.
Environmental groups are applauding B.C. Premier David Eby's new promise to protect 30 per cent of the province's land by 2030 in partnership with Indigenous Peoples. The goal signals a potential shift by the NDP under the new premier to improve B.C.'s lacklustre record of protecting biodiversity and endangered species hot spots, conservation groups say.
Investments in key infrastructure build strong and healthy communities across Canada. From roads and buildings – to water and wastewater systems – reliable infrastructure provides communities with opportunities to grow and develop today so that they are better prepared to overcome the challenges of tomorrow.
Fleming College has been awarded a two-year, $641,800 Applied Research and Technology Partnership (ARTP) grant from the federal College and Community Innovation program. The funding was announced Tuesday (April 5), by Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and will see Fleming’s Centre for Advancement of Water and Wastewater Technologies (CAWT) located at Lindsay’s Frost Campus, work collaborative with Fleming’s Centre for Advancement in Mechatronics and Industrial Internet of Things (CAMIIT) and the Centre for Innovative Aquaculture Production (CIAP) on industry-led applied research projects to develop technologies focused on the detection, monitoring, or surveillance of contaminants, as well as other water quality parameters.
Construction and upgrades of the water treatment plant at Neyaashiinigmiing are getting underway. A release from The Chippewas of Nawash Unceeded First Nation says a groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 21st. Last July, $59.8 million in federal funding was announced for the planned water treatment plant. Indigenous Services Canada’s website says the Cape Croker Public Water system has had a boil water advisory since January 2019, which became a long-term advisory the following year.
The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government would need to increase planned spending to provide clean drinking water in First Nations. Yves Giroux’s report this morning says the government has set aside enough money to build water and wastewater systems over the next five years. Where the government falls short is to help First Nations operate the systems, which Giroux’s office estimates would need $138 million more annually in federal funding.
The Alberta government says it has secured all the land it needs to make construction officially a go on a long-awaited reservoir needed to protect Calgary and surrounding communities from disastrous floods — like the one that killed five people and caused billions of dollars in damages in 2013. The $432-million Springbank off-stream reservoir will redirect water from the Elbow River into a dry reservoir should extreme flood events occur. With up to $168.5 million in federal funding, the reservoir will be built on about 1,497 hectares of land near the rural community of Springbank, which is west and upstream of Calgary.
This week, Canadian officials announced the construction of a new water treatment system in Petit-Rocher in New Brunswick, and almost $20M in funding for water infrastructure across the Yukon province. The Petit-Rocher project will see the construction of a new water treatment system that uses nano filtration, along with the expansion of the existing pump station. Additionally, a new treatment system for the filtration backwash, and connections to municipal water services, will also be built. Once completed, the site will be rehabilitated and expanded with a new parking lot to better assist with increased capacity and demand at the existing centre.
A planned water treatment plant at Neyaashiinigmiing is now getting $59.8 million in federal funding to provide safe drinking water. Indigenous Services Canada’s website says the Cape Croker Public Water system has had a boil water advisory since January 2019, which became a long-term advisory the following year. Earlier this month, the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation put out a release on its website saying, “Indigenous Services Canada has completed a requested review of the cost estimate for the new water treatment plant and committed significant additional funds for the project.”
The Springbank off-stream reservoir to protect Calgary from flooding will receive up to $168.5 million in federal funding, moving it a step closer closer to becoming a reality. Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson made the announcement in Calgary on Tuesday, and after he approved the project earlier this month in light of a report issued by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. It concluded the Elbow River reservoir is unlikely to cause significant adverse environmental effects with mitigation measures in place.
The Town of Hay River will be receiving federal funding to cover half the cost of a feasibility study on the potential construction of a replacement water treatment plant and identification of other water treatment options. The federal government will provide $225,000 for the project under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Plan. Another $225,000 will come from the town. The federal funding was announced on May 6.
Dozens of households in one Anishinaabe community in Manitoba are still dealing with a lack of access to clean water despite receiving extensive water and infrastructure upgrades funded by the federal government nearly three years ago, according to the community’s leadership. “Why put a great new treatment plant with clean drinking water when you can’t still hook up the community?” asks Hollow Water First Nation Chief Larry Barker, who said he won’t rest until the entire community is connected to the plant. Hollow Water First Nation is about 217 kilometres north of Winnipeg, on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.
Rural communities near Prince Albert want to turn the taps on a $45 million water project. The Town of Shellbrook and the RM of Shellbrook have struck a steering committee with the Prince Albert Rural Water Utility (PARWU), spending $60,000 on studying a new water treatment plant with connecting pipelines to the communities, according to its terms of reference. “I really believe that building a water treatment plant will open the door to other communities to get good water,” noted Brent Miller, who is the steering committee chair and a Town of Shellbrook councillor.
The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation is expanding its water system to deliver clean drinking water to hundreds of residents who have been grappling for more than a decade with seven drinking water advisories. The Bay of Quinte is on Lake Ontario and the First Nation is not remote or isolated. It’s just off Ontario’s Highway 401, between Toronto and Montreal. Chief R. Donald Maracle said his community has suffered from a lack of safe water since 2008, due to fecal, bacterial and algae contaminations. A regional drought made many groundwater wells go completely dry in 2017.
“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”
