Residents living in the hamlets of Pibroch, Dapp, Jarvie and Fawcett will soon be able to access the town’s water supply once Phase 3 of the Westlock Regional Water Service Commission is brought online.
At the moment, the commission is in the process of applying for funding to build the water line to the north, said commission chair Clem Fagnan.
Engineers are currently determining the estimated cost of the project based on its overall scope, he said, but there is no set timeline for when that work and the funding application will be completed.
Of note, Fagnan said, is that the commission has received a letter from the MD of Lesser Slave River requesting the water line be extended beyond Fawcett and into Flatbush. Such an extension is being considered, but he said in the immediate term the line will not leave the county’s borders.
“Phase 3 is going to be strictly for the Westlock County, and then the other one will be an extension of that phase,” he said.
The proposed extension will have to be run past the Alberta government before it can be built, he said, adding that discussion would determine whether it would be considered part of Phase 3, an extension of Phase 3 or a completely separate Phase 4.
Regardless, any portion of the line outside Westlock County would be paid for by Lesser Slave River.
Getting the line to the county’s northern hamlets is an important initiative, Fagnan said, and one that needs to be done fairly quickly.
“I don’t think there’s anything more important than water because the quality of water out of the wells today is not as good as the water they would get out of a treatment plant,” he said.
By hooking up the hamlets to the town water supply, he said those residents will have a steady supply of good quality water.
The commission’s first two projects are both nearing completion.
“We’re hopeful that by early spring everything will be working the way it should be working,” Fagnan said.
On Phase 1, which connects the Village of Clyde and Hamlet of Vimy to the town’s water supply, all that remains is to tie in the new line to the town’s raw water reservoir, Fagnan said. At the moment, the reservoir is still connected to the old water line.
As for Phase 2, which runs south down to Pickardville and Busby, he said the line is in place, and all that needs to be installed is a booster pump.
The plan is to have those final pieces of work completed in the next few months.
