Northwest Territories MP and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty has just announced an investment of about $20,100,000 from the federal government for construction of a new water treatment plant in Hay River. The new plant would provide clean drinking water to Hay River as well as Enterprise, Kátł’odeeche First Nation and Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation. The announcement was made Tuesday at Hay River Council Chambers.
According to the announcement, the source of the monies to replace the aging water plant comes out of the Build Communities Strong Fund.
Deputy Mayor Keith Dohey said the new water treatment plant will help provide safe drinking water and help eliminate boil water advisories.
Dohey said the new water infrastructure will also help support new housing and other developments for the town of Hay River and surrounding communities that include Enterprise, K’atl’odeeche First Nation, and Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation (Kakisa).
The announcement of the new facility aligns with the official launch of the Build Communities Strong Fund.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said the new fund will provide $51 billion over 10 years through three major streams towards the construction of a range of infrastructure projects across the country. The PM said these infrastructure initiatives will focus on health, housing, sport, education, transit, economic development and climate adaptation.
“When roads are congested, water systems are strained, and communities can’t grow, productivity drops and costs rise. These investments will boost economic activity, create good-paying careers in the skilled trades, and give businesses and investors the confidence to build. The right infrastructure is essential to unlocking more housing, supporting affordability, and building strong communities. The Build Communities Strong Fund is a cornerstone of the Government of Canada’s plan to build the infrastructure needed to build Canada strong – today and for generations to come,” read a message from federal government officials.
This fall heightened levels of trihalomethanes were detected in water samples from the town’s treatment plant. Hay River, Enterprise, Kátł’odeeche First Nation and Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation remained on boil water advisories for months.
The GNWT’s Chief Environmental Health Officer Dr. Chirag Rohit reported that the South Slave’s lake water quality has changed significantly over the last decades.
Dr. Rohit said that the heightened levels of trihalomethanes were caused by the reaction of chlorine with naturally occurring organic material which has accumulated substantially in the lake water in the decades since the water treatment plant was built.
“What we know for certain is that the source water, the water that we are taking in from the lake, over the years, has seen higher amounts of organic material. And that organic material is interacting with the chlorine used for disinfecting. And that’s where we end up having THMs”
Rohit said investigators found that climate change and low water levels are part of the picture, but “multiple” factors are involved.
