Canada and BC Award Grant Extension for Water Treatment Plant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 10, 2019

MP Stephen Fuhr, Kelowna-Lake Country, announced today that the City of West Kelowna’s request has been granted for a timeline extension to meet grant requirements for its Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant.

Fuhr made the announcement in front of West Kelowna Municipal Hall indicating that the City now has a further two years, until March 2022, to construct the much-anticipated Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant. The announcement was met with cheers from those in attendance which included special guests, City staff and members of the public.

“A little more than two years ago I had the pleasure of announcing significant federal support for water infrastructure in the Central Okanagan. Under a new federal program called the Clean Water Wastewater fund (CWWF), eligible community projects received 50% of the project costs from the Government of Canada. This new funding model represented significant fiscal relief to municipalities who were trying to deliver on necessary community water projects,” says MP Stephen Fuhr. “In the case of the Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant project, West Kelowna had run into a number of logistical difficulties in meeting the timelines required by the CWWF. Today I am very pleased to see the Government of Canada go the extra mile to ensure West Kelowna will receive the 24.7 million dollars it needs to complete this vital community infrastructure project.”

The City has also received approval from the Provincial Government for this timeline extension. Together, the Provincial and Federal governments are contributing $41 million towards the construction of the plant.

Due to complications, including historical flooding in 2017 and 2018 which occupied City resources for emergency response and recovery and the location and purchase of non-Crown land for the new plant to be built, the project was delayed and the deadline loomed for West Kelowna.

Mayor Gord Milsom said that it became clear that the City needed support from its political partners to save the grant and the project. He thanked the Federal and Provincial Governments for coming through for West Kelowna residents again.

“We saw our elected officials go above and beyond for us. It has been truly amazing,” says Mayor Gord Milsom. “We are humbled by their support and extremely grateful. Without a doubt in my mind, this project would be years away, if not completely out of reach for West Kelowna, without the support of the Federal and Provincial Governments.”

For more information about the Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant please visit www.westkelownacity.ca/rvwtp.