City gets funding for water treatment plant design upgrades

By Lethbridge Herald on October 23, 2024.

City officials stand at the water treatment plant on Wednesday after the province announced funding for a design study to increase its capacity. Herald photo by Al Beeber

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Water is the lifeblood of Lethbridge and southern Alberta and on Wednesday, the provincial government provided funding to design more capacity at the city’s water treatment plant.

On peak days, water treatment demands at the plant exceed 90 per cent of present design capacity, the plant which is designed to treat up to 150 million litres of water per day.

The government is providing the $2.8 million cost of the  design project to increase maximum capacity to 180 million litres per day through the Alberta Community Partnership program. This program is aimed at improving the viability and long-term sustainability of municipalities.

The funding announcement was made at the water treatment on Wednesday afternoon by Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver, along with Lethbridge East MLA and Minister of Affordability Nathan Neudorf, mayor Blaine Hyggen and Devin Dreeshen, Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors.

A contingent of city councillors including Belinda Crowson, Jenn Schmidt-Rempel and Deputy Mayor Nick Paladino were on hand for the announcement along with City officials including City Manager Lloyd Brierley, Director of Infrastructure Services Joel Sanchez, and Manager of Engineering and Environment Mark Sveinson.

The City said in a release that “the planned upgrades will enhance treatment reliability and ensure Lethbridge residents continue to receive high-quality water. The increased capacity will also help meet the high and growing demands of the agri-food sector.”

McIver told The Herald in an interview after the press event that “water is so important to municipalities. It’s one of the keys to both their sustainability and the size they are now and the key to growth in the future, adding jobs and opportunities and growth in the community so this is one of those important steps in the process. So we’re happy to co-operate with our partners in the federal government and the City of Lethbridge to help make this possible.”

Hyggen said water and wastewater are the City’s top priority “so this definitely helps, not just for the next couple of years but well into the future so we’re very grateful for the dollars we’ve received from the provincial government to move this forward.”

Neudorf said “without water you can’t grow anything. You can’t grow industry, you can’t grow residential, you can’t grow more schools so this is a huge step to get us the water that we need and I said earlier too just making sure that we manage the water and wastewater treatment.. .

“These systems are meant to be designed so that we’re putting back almost exactly what we’re taking out in the front end through good management and that’s what both these projects are going to be working forward in tandem,” Neudorf added.

Most municipalities, said McIver, put in more water than they take out of a river.

Dreeshen said “it really builds on the previous water investments the province has done in southern Alberta – over $800 million into irrigation to have 200,000 more irrigated acres down in southern Alberta so obviously managing the water is an important environmental story that this government is proud to have and the investment into the design of a new water treatment here in Lethbridge is another great story.”

In the media statement, Dreeshen added ““This investment is part of our government’s commitment to enabling increased water treatment and distribution for residential, industrial and agricultural use, improving quality of life for Albertans and supporting our economy.”

The project won’t benefit just Lethbridge. Twenty per cent of the city’s treated water supplies other communities including the County, Coaldale, Coalhurst, Picture Butte, Monarch, Diamond City and Turn.

The design phase of the project is expected to be completed next year.

“The expansion will allow us to meet projected water demand during the next five years and beyond,” said Hyggen.

 “It’s necessary to support the City’s long-term residential and commercial growth. Increasing our water treatment capacity is essential to Lethbridge remaining a driver of regional economic growth.”