Oliver’s water system fixed after $11.5M rebuild
Six years after falling rocks destroyed a key piece of the Oliver area’s agricultural water system, the $11.5-million repair job is finally complete.
“It’s been a little bit nervewracking, so to speak, because there are 600-plus water users that use water off the system, serving about 5,000 acres,” said Oliver Mayor Martin Johansen in an interview Thursday.
“But the big number was if it ever failed completely or another rock came down, the cost for replanting and crop recovery would have been around $172 million — and you don’t just replant and get going again.”
Johansen was among the dignitaries who gathered last week at Gallagher Lake to mark completion of the project, construction of which started in fall 2020.
It was at Gallagher Lake in January 2016 that falling rocks damaged a large underground pipe that formed a key part of the system, knocking it out of service.
The B.C. government stepped up with $500,000 for a temporary fix, which reduced system capacity by 32%. The province also committed $5 million to the rebuild and the town hoped for a similar contribution from the federal government, but its requests fell on deaf ears.
Town council eventually decided to raise the other $6.5 million through long-term debt and add the cost to water bills.
“It’s an increase to everybody’s expenses, which is challenging,” said Johansen, “but we had to weigh that against what the impact would be if we didn’t have a system.”
The repair job, which was led by Penticton-based H&M Excavating, included building a new pumphouse and re-routing the canal system around Gallagher Lake.
The system, which stretches from Vaseux Lake south to the Canada-U.S. border, primarily supplies agricultural properties in and around Oliver, plus on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve.
“Obviously we see it as a very important piece of infrastructure that serves the whole South Okanagan,” added Johansen.