Money could flow to protect Winnipeg rivers from sewage spills, erosion

Winnipeg's water and waste committee approved millions of dollars for work meant to protect the city's rivers from sewage spills and erosion.

At the committee's budget meeting on Thursday, chair Coun. Brian Mayes raised a motion to use $10 million from the province to replace broken sewage pipes near the Fort Garry Bridge, which led to the largest spill the city has seen in decades.

Water and waste director Tim Shanks told the committee it would cost an estimated $20 million to replace the two pipes, which carry untreated sewage across the Red River to the South End Sewage Treatment Plant.

The spill, which began on Feb. 7, led to 230 million litres of sewage spillinginto the river until the city got a bypass system up and running.

That bypass system wiped out the remaining funding in the city's river crossing monitoring and rehabilitation capital budget. The city had budgeted $730,000 for the program in 2023, but nothing was allocated for it in the draft 2024 budget.

The fund is used to pay for regular inspections of the city's 46 sewer crossings and 34 water crossings.

"We do [the inspections] as a cycle," Mayes told reporters after the meeting.

"We had finished off doing one round and need more money to start up again. But yeah, it's troubling when you've been funding something for years and then it shows up as a zero in the budget."

Last week, Manitoba environment minister Tracy Schmidt said the province was investigating the spill. She also said the province would give the city $10 million for wastewater infrastructure improvements.

The city has not yet received the money from the province, and it was not clear when it would arrive, Mayes said during the meeting.

It was also unclear whether there were conditions placed on how the city could use the provincial funding, Mayes said.

"I guess if there are strings attached this willbe the way to find out because we're voting on this budget next week," he said.

In an email statement, a spokesperson for Schmidt wrote that the "$10M funding is to support the City of Winnipeg in addressing the costs of the recent sewer line break."

The city budget also includes $84.5 million over six years for the Southwest Interceptor project, which is expected to help prevent future spills by giving the city an alternative route to direct sewage in the event of another break.

The committee passed Mayes' motion unanimously. It still needs council approval.

Riverbank stabilization funding restored

The city is also dedicating millions toward riverbank stabilization, after last year's budget had no money for that work.

If approved by council, the 2024 budget would commit $18 million over six years to help prevent riverbank erosion.

"The riverbank is always eroding in 2022 we saw a lot more erosion with the rains, combined with the high water levels. It saturated the bank," riverbank management engineer Kendall Thiessen told reporters.

The funding in the 2024 budget $3 million per year increases the amount the city had previously devoted to riverbank stabilization.

In 2017, the city budgeted $1 million, dropping to $500,000 from 2018 to 2020. That funding was further reduced to $100,000 in 2021.

No money was dedicated to riverbank stabilization in the 2022 budget, but $312,000 was redirected from other sources to do the work. The city had no money for riverbank stabilization in 2023.

The money would be used to protect city-owned riverfront property, with a focus on access points to the river such as docks and parks.