BARRHEAD - Town of Barrhead Coun. Rod Klumph wonders if the Barrhead Regional Water Commission (BRWC) is investigating a potential change or adding another water source for the municipality.
Currently, the Town of Barrhead's water comes from the Paddle River.
Klumph posed the question to BRWC manager Edward LeBlanc, mayor Dave McKenzie, and Coun. Don Smith during the Aug. 13 council meeting.
The BRWC is an independent body comprised of members of the Barrhead municipalities. The commission owns the region's water infrastructure, pipelines, and treatment plant. It sells the water to the municipalities, which, in turn, resell it to their residents.
McKenzie and Smith are council's representatives on the board.
"I am curious if the water commission is looking into a potential new water source," he said.
Klumph noted that in early July, for the first time in recent memory, the municipality issued a water restriction/advisory, asking residents to conserve water, enacting limited hours for the splash park, and temporarily closing the town's bulk water station.
"I can't see it improving too much," he said. "And water is essential if we want to grow our town."
LeBlanc, who recently assumed the reins of the commission after serving as its part-time manager, replied, saying the "quick answer" is the BRWC has had no formal discussions about sourcing a new water source for the town.
It is worth noting that LeBlanc also serves as the town's chief administrative officer. However, in April, he announced his intentions of stepping away from the position after his contract expired in May, but that he would stay on until the town found his replacement.
LeBlanc said that about 15 to 20 years ago, the Barrhead and Westlock municipalities considered securing an alternative water supply.
Specifically, LeBlanc said they were looking at tapping the Athabasca River.
"Simply put, it was too cost-prohibitive. It was $25 to $30 million back then," he said.
Klumph then asked if the water commission had ever considered using the Pembina River as a water source.
Smith replied, to his knowledge, that the answer was no.
However, it should be noted that the Town of Westlock draws its water from the Pembina River.
Smith added that Klumph's question was especially timely given the drought conditions the region and the province have experienced recently, which have also impacted the flow of local rivers, including the Paddle River.
"The water treatment plant has had to ask [the province] to open the [Paddle River] dam, and so far, they have been able to accommodate us," he said. "I can certainly see, sometime in Barrhead's future, [an additional or new water source] is something we may need to discuss."
Especially, Smith said, if the combined Barrhead municipalities' water consumption remains at current levels or increases.
He stated that according to BRWC statistics, this summer, the town and county water consumption was well above their traditional volumes.
Coun. Dave Sawatzky also asked if the water commission planned to expand its water lines further into the County of Barrhead.
"No," LeBlanc said, adding that the BRWC's long-term business plan references the possibility of expanding into Lac Ste. Anne County and Thunder Lake.
"The possibility of running a line out to Thunder Lake has been on the books for many years," Smith said, adding that the County of Barrhead was especially interested in expanding the service to the hamlet. "But at the time, several years ago, the province wasn't interested."
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
