by
Jennifer Dart
The Westerly News
Dec. 21, 2005
The Ministry of Community Services announced Dec. 19 they have awarded a two-thirds grant to the District of Tofino for the Ginnarad Creek reservoir expansion project.
Minister Ida Chong told the Westerly the projects that received funding were ranked highest for environmental and public health concerns.
"One of the priorities for our government is sustainable environmental management - the best air and water quality," said Min. Chong, pointing to Premier Gordon Campbell's five goals for BC.
Tofino will receive $823,000 towards the Ginnard Creek project, and the total value of the project is $1,235,000. The district had to have its third of the grant already in place when applying in February of 2005.
District of Tofino staff have told council on different occassions they were not optimistic about receiving the grant, which was part of the former Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services (now the Ministry of Community Services) ministry's Community Water Improvement Program.
Administrator Leif Pedersen indicated in July the ministry's staff gave the district the impression communities that were consistently under boil water advisories would likely be favoured for the funding program.
A bylaw was even proposed, but defeated in August, to make provisions to borrow the funds necessary for the project if Tofino was denied.
The district applied for the grant at the end of February 2005 and were among the last recipients. Min. Chong said the latest announcements are the last of the $80 million project money from the province.
"I promised local governments at UBCM (the Union of BC Municipalities meeting) all [the grant money] would be allocated by the end of the year," said Chong.
The Ginnard Creek expansion involves increasing Tofino's emergency water supply storage from 450,000 gallons to four million gallons of storage at the existing reservoir on Meares Island. The water in question needs some treatment, and part of the project includes installing treatment equipment, and upgrading pumping facilities at the Sharp Road pump station.
It's estimated this supply will provide at least an additional 20 days of water during low flow periods. Tofino hit drastically low levels of water supply during the summer of 2004 when dry weather along with high usage contributed to the shortages.
Public works superintendent Gary Holte has since drafted a five stage emergency water plan to address a similar situation, and the district has focused on conservation measures during the past year. Despite these measures, Holte reported an increase in water usage in the third quarter of 2005.
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