Yellowknife's aging drinking water pipe to be replaced in $30M project

A decades-old pipe that carries Yellowknife's drinking water is going to be replaced in a project funded by the federal and municipal governments.

Wednesday's announcement comes more than a year after a consultant'sreport laid out two options: use a less expensive pipe connecting to a closer water supplyor replace the current pipe for nearly $15 million more.

Federal Minister of Rural Economic Development Bernadette Jordan and Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty wereat Yellowknife's annual snow castle on Wednesday to make the announcement.

"Drinking water is the most important thing. It's our key to life, so this has been a major concern for residents, and it's a major cost, as well," said Alty.

The federal government is providing $25.8 million through its Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, and the city of Yellowknife is providing more than$8.6 million, according to a Government of Canada press release.

The funding will help make sure that "if there's heavy rains or a severe weather event, that the system isn't compromised," explained Jordan.

"These upgrades will increase the capacity for flood water retention and will better protect the community drinking water supply during times of extreme weather. The changes will also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to water line replacement and system operations," the statement said.

Municipal funding not yet secured

Alty said funding on the city's end hasn't been secured yet. The hope is to get that money from other orders of government.

Nothing has been committed so far, "but the discussions have just started," she said.

If that doesn't work out, it will be a matter for the 2020 budget.

If the city were to borrow the money, "then it would have to be a referendum," Alty said.

She didn't immediately have an estimate for when the pipe will be installed. She said the plan still needs to go through the water licensing process.

Chris Greencorn, director of public works and engineering for the city, said in an email that the goal is to finish construction by the end of 2023, "but there's significant work that needs to be completed."

The project will also include a community benefits plan that considers employment opportunities.

2 options had been on the table

Yellowknife city councillors previously considered two options, which were laid out in a 2017 AECOM Canada Ltd. report the city commissioned.

The less expensive option would be to pump in water from Yellowknife Bay with a new water treatment system, which would cost an estimated $18.2 million over its life cycle.

The city previously got its water from the bay until the late 1960s. It switched to the current pipe, which connects to the Yellowknife River, because of arsenic contamination concerns due to the bay's proximity to the former Giant and Con mines.

A major failure at Giant Mine has a low probability of occurring but is considered plausible.- AECOM Canada Ltd. report

Those concerns are still warranted to a degree, according to the report.

It warned that "it is possible that a catastrophic loss of containment of a surface pond at the Giant Mine remediation site could result in increased arsenic concentrations at the city's Yellowknife Bay intake location."

The report also said that "a major failure at Giant Mine has a low probability of occurring but is considered plausible."

"If anything were to happen at Giant, and the arsenic comes into the water, then it would impact our drinking water for three months minimum," Alty said.

The report included the data on the quality of Yellowknife Bay water in terms of arsenic concentrations, which showed bay water to be well below government maximums outlined in safe drinking water guidelines.

The preferred option in the report was for the replacement of the current pipe, which carries water from the mouth of the Yellowknife River,and much further away from the mine, to the city's water treatment plant.