qathet Regional District (qRD) directors were given an overview of the Lund Waterworks District, which wants to upgrade its service to bring the water quality in line with national standards.
At the June 26 regional board meeting, Tom Day, receiver for the waterworks district, said he was appointed about a year and a half ago by the provincial cabinet to be the receiver for the district.
“I was tasked with trying to bring forward two primary objectives,” said Day. “The first was to bring the waterworks district into fiscal shape, and second, working with the regional district so that it could be transferred into a regional district service.”
Day said that Lund waterworks District was appointed as an improvement district in 1973. He said the current situation is that the water being produced does not meet Canadian drinking water standards and is far below.
“The objective is to ensure that the water is safe to drink,” said Day.
He said there are two dams within the system and both need addressing.
“Those dams are rated by the ministry of environment as having a high consequence rating,” said Day. “That means, if they fail, they could have a significant impact on the community and the regional board could be in a state of emergency.”
A third issue is the storage reservoirs and they will fail, said Day. There were three and now there are two, he added.
“Basically, this water system is a disaster waiting to happen,” said Day.
There are 145 connections to the Lund waterworks system.
He said that in 2018, a study was conducted and an estimate of $17,100,000 was arrived at to upgrade to a new system. The district applied for a 100 per cent grant and there was a lot of expectation that it was going to get approved, said Day, but it wasn’t part of the approval package.
He added that in March 2022, there was an estimate that came to $24 million, and under a new grant program, local taxpayers would be faced with a 27 per cent cost.
“I was hired around that time and I felt that estimate wasn’t realistic,” said Day. “It turned out it was underestimated with what was proposed.”
Two infrastructure planning grants were applied for and a design/build proposal was created to completely upgrade the entire system, said Day.
That cost came in at $30 million, with the locals paying 27 per cent. A phased plan was developed.
Day requested that a grant for a consulting engineer be given by the province and $20,000 was received.
“We lucked out and hired an awesome engineer who understands small community finances and understands small community water systems,” said Day.
He asked for volunteers for an advisory committee from the community and seven people came forward to help steer the process.
“We are looking at the system and trying to arrive at an affordable system,” said Day.
What they have come up with is a comprehensive, $11.9 million upgrade, he added. One of the big savings was looking at a package treatment plant as opposed to an onsite build, and the savings were dramatic.
“That treatment plant will meet the stringent Canadian drinking water standards,” said Day.
He said the cost to local taxpayers has been examined. Under the initial proposal, debt retirement would be $3,800 a year for taxpayers, plus operating costs, which are $1,000 a year, so it would have cost Lund water users $4,800 a year for water alone. With the latest proposal, the debt retirement cost would be $1,500 a year and $1,000 a year for operating, so a total cost of $2,500.
“I’m calling it affordable but we all know $2,500 is a lot of money,” said Day. “However, it’s that or no water down the road.”
He added that Lund Waterworks District is well-funded and in good shape financially. He said all parties concerned have been working for Lund to have a safe, reliable, potable water system.
“The improvements will occur when a senior government grant is awarded,” said Day. “The [regional] board is the only one who gets this grant. If the board doesn’t accept it, the work won’t get done because the province won’t give the grant to anyone else but you people. You must be the owner.”
Day said he would be the receiver until the middle of September, at which time the waterworks district would be without one unless qRD takes over.
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne asked if the regional district declined to become the new receiver, after Day has concluded his responsibilities, what was the probability that the regional district would be forced to take it.
Day said he didn’t believe the province would force qRD to take over the improvement district.
At a meeting on July 5, qathet Regional District's (qRD) committee of the whole recommended to the regional board that qRD respectfully decline the opportunity of becoming receiver of the Lund Waterworks District
