NORTHEAST — Five communities in northeast Saskatchewan will receive more than $34 million to upgrade their water and sewer systems.
Naicam, Norquay, Rose Valley, St. Gregor and Vonda are receiving federal and provincial dollars through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.
Naicam will receive $1,184,000 in federal funds and $986,568 in provincial funding for a sanitary sewer system upgrade. The Sanitary sewer collection will be upgraded due to it reaching the end of its lifecycle.
“All municipalities are dealing with an infrastructure deficit, including ours and without this funding, the Town of Naicam would not be able to complete these types of projects,” said Rodger Hayward, Naicam’s mayor.
Hayward said to receive this amount of funding from all levels of government, federal, provincially and their local government has made it possible for these improvements to happen.
Vonda will receive $2,351,080 in federal funds and $1,959,037 in provincial funds for a lagoon outfall upgrade. This will be a new sanitary sewer pipeline that will be built from the town to its wastewater lagoon, providing additional capacity to the system and minimizing assets in mitigating future basement sewer backups.
"The entire Town of Vonda council is very excited to announce the news of being awarded the ICIP grant for a new lagoon," Vonda Administrator Linda Denis said. "Currently, our lift station is nearing its life expectancy, and Vonda's existing two-cell lagoon is undersized to meet the current and future needs of the community. This grant will allow the Town of Vonda to increase the capacity to treat the wastewater and to meet the needs of the community, not only for now but also for the future."
Norquay will receive $399,968 in federal funds and $333,273 in provincial funding for a water tower replacement. This project consists of replacing the town’s
existing water storage tank with an equivalent storage tank that is more cost efficient.
Rose Valley will receive $412,000 in federal funds and $343,299 in provincial funds for critical wastewater and water line infrastructure. This project consists of increasing wastewater and waterworks structural capacity to handle extreme weather events, introducing greater system resilience by replacing the existing vulnerable and critical infrastructure.
St. Gregor will receive $50,624 in federal funds and $42,183 in provincial funds for a reverse osmosis water treatment plant. This water treatment plant upgrade includes a reverse osmosis membrane filtration system.
The funding was announced by Dan Vandal, the federal minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, and Don McMorris, the provincial minister of government relations, on Feb. 29. In Saskatchewan, 34 projects will receive more than $51 million in funding from the federal and provincial governments.
“These drinking water and wastewater improvement projects align with the vision for a green Prairie economy that is prosperous, sustainable, and benefits everyone,” said the provincial government in a media release. “By investing in infrastructure, the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan are growing the economy, building resilient communities, and improving the lives of residents.”
