Moment with the Mayor: Water

Hi Everyone:

It is turning out to be a dry spring, which is allowing a lot of farmers to get their crop in without any problems. A question that has arisen is whether the Town has enough water. In short, the answer is yes. However, we can’t be complacent and need to continually plan for the future. Water is critical to Kindersley and is protected by Council’s Ends Policy E.O.1.c: “There is more than an adequate supply of high quality drinking water to meet current and future demands.”

Here are some quick notes about our water.

·         Saskatchewan Water Security continuously praises our Water Treatment Plant Manager, Kevin Baliski, for the quality of our water.

·         Currently, Kindersley and the surrounding area including industry users consume 660g/min or 180m³/hour;

·         The maximum rate at which the plant can produce is 770g/min or 230m³/hour.

·         Consumption this past winter was up considerably due to industrial use, measuring between 1,700m³  - 2,100m³/day.

·         Summer consumption is around 2,500m3/day.

·         Water West is a partnership between 7 municipalities including: Town of Kindersley and Eston, RMs of Kindersley, Antelope Park, Chesterfield, Newcombe, and Snipe Lake.

·         The reason we pay a premium for our water is because it is piped 55 kms from the South Saskatchewan River.

·         A challenge we are facing is human resources. At this time the plant can run up to 17 hours per day but another person needs to be hired with the right training to ensure the quality and quantity of water that is needed.

·         We are looking at selling our backwash water to industry.

·         We still owe $11.5 million to complete the Water West project. The debt repayment is part of our water utility bill and does not come out of our property tax revenue.

In conclusion we have enough water for the immediate and near future but have to plan long term; we can’t afford to be complacent.

June 24^th is the official opening of the Water West Pipeline to celebrate the water upgrades in West Central Saskatchewan and the Town of Kindersley. Representatives from the Canadian government (which has made a 50 percent contribution to the project) and the provincial government will be in attendance. This project began in late 2001 and is now almost finished. Some key people will be recognized, such as the late Bernie Haubrich and the late Eldon Brick. One of the pump houses will be named after Eric Halpenny, the Mayor of Kindersley when the first Water West Project was completed in 1964.

Please write or phone if you would like me to discuss a particular topic. If you have any questions or comments drop me a line at the town office or email me at mayorenns-wind@kindersley.ca. I appreciate your feedback.

Have a good week!