$50M water plant pitched for Osoyoos
Just weeks after completing an unusually contentious 2024 budget process, Osoyoos councillors are being asked to get out their pencils again to add in a $51.8-million water treatment plant to their five-year financial plan.
Town staff are slated to recommend the pricey addition, which would draw water from Osoyoos Lake, at a committee of the whole meeting this morning.
Residents currently get their water from an aging network of wells that’s prone to periodic failures, including a week-long boil water advisory this past February due to malfunctioning equipment.
That poor track record, plus demand now outstripping supply, prompted town officials last year to work with a team from the University of B.C. to come up with options, potentially including new wells.
“As part of the well exploration process, water quality was reviewed to ensure that these new sources would be a viable option for domestic purposes. The water quality sampling that was completed not only showed the already known manganese concerns but also showed concerns with iron, total organic carbon and ammonia, all of which require a treatment process as they present water quality issues and concerns for the end user,” writes Jared Brounstein, operational director for the town, in his report to council.
The UBC report also suggested the town explore developing a new water system that draws from Osoyoos Lake instead of wells.
With that data in hand, the town then hired Carollo Engineers to estimate the costs associated with staying on groundwater or switching to lake water – and it isn’t even close.
A groundwater treatment plant is pegged at $61.5 million, while a new plant to treat lake water is estimated at $51.8 million. Both would require annual operating budgets estimated at $1.1 million.
Town staff is recommending an amendment to the five-year financial plan to allow construction to start on the new facility as soon as fall 2025, with completion upwards of three years after that. The report for today’s meeting contains no details about when, or how, the project would affect tax bills.
Council in late March approved its 2024 budget containing a 10.9% tax hike, which combined with increases to utility fees and other services charges, is closer to a 23.7% overall hike. That will cost the owner of an average home worth $721,000 an extra $913 this year, according to town estimates.
Still, that’s down significantly from the 39% overall hike -- which contained a 13.6% tax increase -- that was given third reading by council in October 2023 and kicked off a series of protests and public meetings that forced elected officials to sharpen their pencils.