Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant

In March 2019, the City of West Kelowna confirmed purchase of a 24-acre portion of 2010 Bartley Road, at a cost of $915,000, for the purpose of building the Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant. Mayor Milsom and members of Council made the announcement publicly on March 25, 2019 at an official sign unveiling near the site (photo above).

The City had applied in fall 2017 to obtain rights to use Crown land immediately north of Rose Ridge Park and approximately 1.5 kilometres south of the existing chlorine-only water treatment facility, built in 1977.

On March 26, 2019, Council withdrew its application to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations and Rural Development for tenure on the parcel of the Crown land, located adjacent to District Lots 503, 2685 and 2188, Osoyoos Division Yale Land District.

Since the application process was still ongoing after nearly 18-months, the City had chosen instead to make the nearby property purchase at 2010 Bartley Road, in order to meet its grant obligations. Crown land tenure was therefore no longer required.

With the land for the new plant secured in March 2019, the City began full, detailed design of the plant.

Construction will follow as quickly as possible.

With support from the Province, the City has requested a grant timeline extension from the federal government. The request was made because the delay in securing the location impacted the City’s ability to meet a March 2020 deadline.

The Government of Canada will contribute $27.5 million and the Province of British Columbia will provide $13.5 million.

The City of West Kelowna will contribute the remaining funds through a combination of sources, including reserves and potential borrowing.

The City is in the process of securing more funding for this vital facility as the additional cost to purchase the land and new construction and maintenance requirements resulting from the new location will affect the budget for the project. A final project cost will be determined once design is complete.

Once details for the Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant are finalized, the City will host a public forum to inform residents about the project and other details including water conservation, water rates and water system maintenance.

Watch for information on this event on the City’s website and sign up to receive email notifications at www.westkelownacity.ca/subscribe.

• Construction of Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant will be the largest single construction project the City of West Kelowna has ever undertaken.
• The City of West Kelowna originally intended to start design on Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant in 2021 with construction to start in 2022, subject to funding availability.
• A 14-week water quality advisory in summer and fall of 2016, which was the result of an unprecedented algae bloom in Rose Valley Reservoir and led to increased turbidity, generated public requests for the construction timeline to be advanced.
• The federal and provincial governments launched the Clean Water and Waste Water Fund in British Columbia in September 2016 enabling the City of West Kelowna to apply under the program in the hopes of advancing construction timelines.
• A federal and provincial grant of $41 million was awarded under the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund in March 2017; thank you.

• The plant will initially serve 12,000 people living within the Lakeview Water System.

• The city plans to connect a further 6,000 people living in the West Kelowna and Pritchard/Sunnyside Water Systems once interconnections to the new plant can be constructed.

• The chlorine only facilities that serve the Lakeview, Pritchard/Sunnyside and West Kelowna Estates Systems were built in the 1970s and do not meet modern, federal and provincial drinking water requirements.
• The Lakeview System gets its water from Rose Valley Reservoir. The Pritchard/Sunnyside and West Kelowna Estates Systems get their water from Okanagan Lake and must be pumped up to houses. After the Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant is built, the Lakeview System will be connected to it immediately. Then, as soon as additional funding is available, Pritchard/Sunnyside and West Kelowna Estates will be connected to the treatment plant and the Okanagan Lake pump houses and chlorination facilities for those systems will be decommissioned.

For an overview of the Province of B.C.’s investment in the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund, please go to: www.gov.bc.ca/cleanwaterwastewaterfund

Learn more about the Government of Canada’s commitment to the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund.