Winnifred raw water project costly for residents

Posted on September 21, 2023 by Ryan Dahlman

In Winnifred, with the arrival of irrigation water, our new motto is “water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink”.

This is because our County Council continues to refuse to pursue provincial funding to provide the Winnifred hamlet with safe, clean drinking water.

Instead, the County decided to pipe raw canal water to every home and property in the entire hamlet with an expensive irrigation system.

This Winnifred Raw Water Distribution project is so costly that it will cause property taxes to double, triple and in some cases quadruple.

In addition to the huge tax levy imposed, there will be a near $1,000 seasonal raw-water bill.

Residents will still have a 30 km trip to haul clean drinking water because of course it’s unsafe to drink canal water.

If the County had pursued funding under the Water-for-Life program, Winnifred residents could be expecting drinking water, clean water piped directly to their property at no cost and no tax increase and face only the cost to connect to the pipe and a modest monthly water bill for year round availability that includes fire-protection.

Eric Musekamp, Bow Island