GLENDON – Last week, Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul MLA Scott Cyr announced the Bonnyville Regional Water Services Commission has received a $100,000 grant to study the feasibility of extending the Cold Lake waterline from Bonnyville to the Village of Glendon.
Nicholas Werstiuk, mayor for the Village of Glendon, says water quality has been a major concern for the village’s residents.
Following the last municipal election in 2021, Werstiuk says a survey was sent out to the public to gather concerns. “Top priority was water,” he says, adding the water tank that supplies the village’s water is rusty. The water is supplied from wells.
“It’s not the parts that rusted out... [but] the actual tank itself,” he says. Some residents use water softener systems, but he says these systems are not easy to maintain. “Those are expenses you would expect to have on an acreage,” not on a town or a village, says the mayor.
Werstiuk also says that Glendon’s waterline was built in the mid-1980s. The aging line means there have been some water breaks in the past, he says.
Addressing the issue requires an upgrade of the village’s current water treatment plan, says Werstiuk. So Glendon council consulted with the Bonnyville Regional Water Services Commission, the M.D. of Bonnyville, and the City of Cold Lake to see what could be done.
Timeline
Following consultations, Werstiuk says the best solution presented to them was to extend the waterline from Bonnyville, which draws its water from Cold Lake, and extend that line to Glendon.
Bonnyville Regional Water Services Commission applied for a grant to conduct a feasibility study, which was approved.
The $100,000 grant is funded through the province’s Water for Life program, says Mark Power, CAO of the Bonnyville Regional Water Services Commission. So, the feasibility study will not cost ratepayers anything.
Once the feasibility study is complete – and if it is deemed feasible to extend the line, then another grant application will be submitted to proceed with an engineering study.
Once that study is complete, then stakeholders, including the Village of Glendon and the Government of Alberta, would have to come up with ways to fund the project.
“The construction phase is going to be totally determinant on funding,” Power says.
MLA Scott Cyr says the feasibility study will determine if the potential extension is even possible.
“One of the critical aspects that will be thoroughly examined is the impact on Cold Lake's water levels. We will ensure that any potential overdraw from Cold Lake will be rigorously evaluated,” said Cyr.
The sustainability and the health of the lake will also be prioritized.
“If the feasibility study indicates that the water draws required for the pipeline extension would excessively strain Cold Lake's aquifers, the project will not proceed. Our commitment to safeguarding our environment and resources remains steadfast,” said Cyr.
