West Cove

Potable Water

Potable Water Delivery

Lac Ste. Anne County Directory

 

West Inter Lake District (WILD) Regional Water Services Commission

Overview

Wild was formed as a result of meetings that started some 6 or 7 years ago, by some municipalities in the Counties of Lac Ste. Anne and Parkland with those counties as there was significant concern about water quality, quantity and potability. As a result of those meetings a partnership of 16 municipalities has emerged to form this commission that has been approved by the Government of the Province of Alberta.

The member municipalities are ; County of Lac Ste. Anne, County of Parkland, the villages of Alberta Beach, Onoway and Wabamun, the Summer Villages of Castle Island, Lake View, Nakamun Park, Ross Haven, Sandy Beach, Seba Beach, Sunrise Beach, Sunset Point, Val Quentin, West Cove and Yellowstone.

A major driving force for the commission has been water quality in 2 of the villages that have water distribution services. Wabamun in part because of the railway spill into Lake Wabamun can no longer count on using water drawn from the lake to supply its residents let alone cope with their planned expansions. The Onoway situation is not much better as water is currently provided to the residents from wells that are reaching their limits and as we all know in both counties the quality and quantity of well water leaves a lot to be desired.

After many meetings and looking at options for a good water supply the commission is now working with the Capital Region Parkland Water Services Commission which would mean that high quality potable water can be made available to our region from water sourced from the E.L. Smith water plant situated in Edmonton.

The project is a multi-year primarily pipeline and truck fill  construction project and is expensive but believed to be manageable with the help of Government of Alberta grants and the provinces position on "Water for Life" strategies. Negotiations are ongoing with the appropriate government departments.

 

Water Supply Update

The WILD Water Commission has been approved for the construction costs of Phase I (getting the potable waterline from Stony Plain to Wabamun). This funding is a 90/10 split - 22.5M from the Province and 2.5M to be covered by the Commission (and its members).  Construction has commenced on Phase I.  The Commission is working on obtaining funding for the detailed design work for Phase II. This project has been broken into 3 Phases, and while construction funding has only been secured at this time for Phase I, the Province has approved the project as a whole, meaning funding will come for future phases we are just unsure of exactly when. In 2012/2013 we had 3 new communities join our Commission - Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, Paul Band and the Summer Village of Kapasiwin. In a first of its kind deal, the Federal Government has already forwarded the funding to the Commission to cover the costs of getting the waterline to the two First Nation Communities - 2.2 Million.