Eleven projects across Saskatchewan will be receiving portions of a $74 million joint investment by the province and Ottawa. The funding was announced Tuesday during an event outside Yorkton’s H.M. Bailey Water Pollution Control Plant. “I am proud today to announce that the Government of Canada is investing more than $40 million in 11 priority infrastructure project across Saskatchewan. This is part of a joint federal provincial investment of more than $74 million,” Secretary of State for Rural Development Buckley Belanger told reporters. Yorkton will receive $20 million from the Government of Canada for the first phase of renewing the city’s water pollution control plant. “This is a major undertaking and an important investment into Yorkton’s future,” Belanger added. The province will also invest $16.6 million into the plant’s renewal effort. “This investment will increase the plant capacity by replacing aging equipment and pumps that handle waste water as it enters the facility,” Minister of Rural and Remote Health Lori Carr said. “It also prepares the plan for future upgrades plan as part of the full renewal project.” Mayor of Yorkton Aaron Kienle, who has travelled to Ottawa and the UN in New York City while highlighting the city’s infrastructure woes, shared his optimism on the announcement. “We’re ready to get to work and we certainly look forward to continuing the work in a collaborative fashion with all levels of government,” he told reporters. The renewal project will increase treatment capacity and protect the cleanliness of Yorkton Creek and the users of the Assiniboine Watershed, which include Cote First Nation, Keeseekoose First Nation, and Brandon, Man. The project will also support housing growth in the city, to the tune of potentially 7,150 additional housing units. The current facility is designed to handle wastewater equivalent to a population of about 40,000 people, despite Yorkton’s population sitting at approximately 17,000. However, the plant is already nearing its maximum capacity due to Yorkton’s large service area. During a storm in early July, the plant received flows equivalent to a community of roughly 100,000 people. The plant processed about 40 million litres of water in a single day alone, followed by a roughly 150 million litres flowing through the system in a four-day span just after. Earlier this year, city council collectively voted to pursue the full design of the plant, costing $9 million, a fraction of the cost of the project. Other projects to benefit In the community of La Ronge, the existing sanitary sewer system along Bedford Drive and Louis Road will be extended to support the construction of two residential apartment buildings. According to the government, the project will allow for 124 new housing units. Water treatment upgrades in Shellbrook and Arcola will also be supported by the funding. A wastewater expansion is planned for the City of Estevan, while Swift Current and Big River will receive water system improvements and a water and sewer expansion, respectively. Other highlighted projects include an infrastructure master plan for Naicam, drainage improvements for Warman and a lagoon expansion in the Rural Municipality of St. Louis No. 431.
