Town looking to update local reservoir systems

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Town of Strathmore is seeking grant funding from the Province of Alberta to aid in updating its local reservoir systems. 

Ethan Wilson, manager of infrastructure for the town, said though the town has been previously unsuccessful in receiving the grant, he believes the projects will qualify this year and it is worthwhile to apply at bare minimum.

“The Alberta Municipal Water and Wastewater Partnership is a grant that is offered annually – its intake day is Nov. 30, and in order to apply for the grant, we do require council’s consent,” he explained during the Nov. 16 regular council meeting. “This year, we are looking to apply for two grants under this program. One is a grant that we applied for last year, which is the PLC and SCADA (software) upgrades at our wastewater treatment plant, and the other is upgrades to our reservoir distribution system.”

The reservoirs which are to be affected by future and ongoing projects are the Brentwood Reservoir, and the Wildflower Reservoir. The former of which is set for decommissioning, as it is nearing the end of its service life.

“We thought that these are two projects which we feel qualify for the grant, and we do wish to submit an application for,” said Wilson. “When Wildflower was built, we still had the Westmount Reservoir and we had the Brentwood Reservoir.”

With the Brentwood Reservoir sentenced to decommissioning, Wilson noted the Wildflower Reservoir will need to pick up the slack in its absence. Effectively, the pumping capacity of the reservoir would need to be increased to accommodate for fire flows and general pressures throughout the town.

Wildflower is able to increase its storage capacity, which Wilson explained would be the next steps to increasing the town’s reservoir capacity. 

Following that would be the construction of a new reservoir on the east side of town once developments in the area saturate the area more completely.

Wilson did not elaborate on any details as to what such a reservoir may look like once its development becomes a necessity, nor how long such a project would take to see completion.

He added both projects currently on the docket, if successful in receiving grant funding would begin in 2023, as the PLC/SCADA upgrades are already present within the town’s capital budget.

If the town is unsuccessful in receiving grant funding for the projects, they will continue as planned regardless. The project is estimated to see completion in 2026.