Powell River Regional District has approved submission of two provincial infrastructure planning grant applications for water systems but anticipates approval of only one.
During the August regional board meeting held on Lasqueti Island, board members considered recommendations from the rural services committee regarding the grant applications. One is for Texada Island and the other for Lasqueti.
Regional Board Chair Patrick Brabazon said the regional district has been told that in applying for these grants, if there is more than one submission, the applications should be prioritized.
“We have two of them on the table and we had to make a decision which one is number one and which one is number two,” he said.
Linda Greenan, the regional district’s manager of financial services, said the district is submitting both but has no idea which one it might get.
The board unanimously approved submission of both grant applications.
The board’s first infrastructure planning grant priority is for the Van Anda Improvement District integrated assessment toward the development of a sustainable water system. If successful, the grant would offset the estimated $37,000 cost for an integrated assessment of operating needs and future capital for developing and managing the sustainable water system. If actual study costs exceed the estimate, the Van Anda Improvement District would be responsible for costs not covered by the grant.
For the second grant application, Lasqueti’s Regional Director Merrick Anderson said the initiative was a response to the Walkerton, Ontario water catastrophe, in 2000, when seven people died and thousands were sickened by an E. coli outbreak.
“The federal government has required that all fresh water systems be brought up to an international standard of safety,” Anderson said. “That puts a huge financial onus on these small water systems. The government has provided a way to get grants to cover at least the start, to figure out how to do this.”
The application was for the Pete’s Lake Water Users Society to offset the estimated $19,800 to conduct an extensive assessment and research study to better understand its domestic water supply system. If actual study costs exceed the estimate, the Pete’s Lake Water Users Society would be responsible for costs not covered by the grant.
