With full funding for the project confirmed, the Cold Lake Regional Utility Services Commission (RUSC) is set to award the contracts for the Bonnyville, Alberta water line in the coming days.

The $84-million project will see a water transmission line constructed from the City of Cold Lake to the Town of Bonnyville that will supply the town with treated water. Connections will also be made to the hamlets of Ardmore and Fort Kent, as well as to the Cold Lake First Nations 149 reserve, located about 4 kilometers south of the City of Cold Lake. Construction on the project will begin this year, with completion expected in the spring of 2020.

“This is a very complex and very important project, and we are happy to have brought it to this point, where all parts of the project have the green light,” said Bob Buckle, chairman of the Cold Lake RUSC. “A trusted source of water is important for every community, and we are following through on the Government of Alberta’s mandate that Cold Lake be the regional source.”

Design of the water transmission line has been finalized. The project will also include upgrades to the Cold Lake Water Treatment Plant needed to accommodate the increase in output. The cost of the project is being shared by the Town of Bonnyville, the Municipal District of Bonnyville, the Government of Alberta, and the Government of Canada under the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund. Initial funding was announced by all three levels of government in mid-2016. The province confirmed funding for the total project cost last week.

“This project is large and complex and involved multiple stakeholders and partners to make this happen,” said the chairman of the Bonnyville Regional Water Services Commission, Gene Sobolewski. “We would like to thank the Cold Lake First Nations for their guidance through the consultation process; the Ministries of Alberta Transportation and Indigenous Relations for their leadership, collaboration, and cooperation in bringing this project to construction; the City of Cold Lake for their partnership; and the CLRUSC for their collaboration and willingness to take this project on when the waterline project was an idea at the committee stage.”

A total of four contracts will be awarded spanning different parts of the project, including construction of the transmission line through the City of Cold Lake, upgrades to the Cold Lake Water Treatment Plant, and construction of the transmission line from the Cold Lake city limits to the Town of Bonnyville.

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