ATHABASCA – If everything goes according to plan, residents in Caslan and Rochester will have quicker access to potable water in the upcoming years.
During their July 27 council meeting, Athabasca County councillors voted unanimously as part of their consent agenda to approve an application to the Alberta Transportation Water for Life Program for $200,000 that will go towards a feasibility study for water services in Caslan and Rochester.
“Right now the closest potable water fill station to Rochester is in Colinton, and depending on where you live near Caslan, it would be in either Grassland or Boyle,” said county reeve Brian Hall in an Aug. 9 interview. “This is a way for us to try and serve more residents.”
Besides residential use, Caslan’s fire department would also benefit; currently they pull water from lakes in the summer and a cistern in the winter, but a fill station would save time.
“Having access to a pressurized water line would be a significant improvement to how they’re working right now,” said Hall.
Currently, the summer village of Island Lake, as well as other communities in the western part of the county are working on a similar study; Athabasca County is partnering with them on a committee that is conducting its own feasibility study.
During the Aug. 10 committee of the whole meeting, Coun. Rob Minns provided an update on how that process was going, and how it was funded.
“We had a great meeting, everyone talked a bit about what the financial commitment would be for everyone involved,” said Minns. “There was a lot of consideration from (Island Lake’s) CAO on how we could end up joining together and paying for the study.”
There currently isn’t a standardized level of service for the hamlets in the county; Wandering River and Grassland both have municipal water, but also have truck fills for more rural residents.
Sub: The project
All three studies are being conducted by Associated Engineering; according to the documentation from the July 27 meeting, the same team is handling Caslan and Rochester’s studies, which will cost $74,500 each. The additional $50,000 will go towards covering any unforeseen costs.
Associated Engineering plans on starting both projects Jan. 25, 2024, and finishing them by May 25 of the same year. The six-person team will cover pipeline alignment, environmental overview, connection capacity assessments and more in their report to ensure councillors have a comprehensive picture before moving forward.
Hall said that councillors make these types of decisions during the budgeting process, and then they become reality over the fiscal year.
“We talk about it throughout our strategic planning and budgeting processes, and it’s really budget where we put the dollars into the ideas,” said Hall. “There are opportunities that arise where there’s a chance to explore something that we haven’t been aware of, but it’s really those discussion during budget and other meetings.”
