Newell water system anticipates growth

amccuaig@medicinehatnews.com

Access to clean, potable water for homes and businesses has been a challenge for many municipalities over the last decade as the provincial government tackles increased pressures on its water resources.

In 2003, the Alberta government’s Water for Life strategy was unveiled. But while that plan raised the bar for conservation standards and quality while at the same time freezing any new water licenses on the province’s river basins, some municipalities were faced with tough decisions on how to meet those regulations.

Higher reporting requirements, increased levels of technical know-how needed by those working the (mostly) rural water facilities and the costs associated left many municipalities in a lurch.

Some areas handed over their water and sewer works to private company Epcor to handle logistics management of the daunting task. But for Brooks and the County of Newell, they decided to build their own system.

After much debate that saw a tug-of-war between different camps on the issue and saw the mayor of Bassano resign over his opposition to the plan, the taps are running now on the first phase of the Newell Regional Services Corporation (NRSC).

Located 20 km east of Brooks, the Village of Tilley has been dealing for more than three years with a boil-water advisory after the treatment plant was found not to be able to meet the new standards.

“The City of Brooks was in the situation where we needed to replace our water treatment facility as well,” said that city’s Mayor Martin Shields. “The county was interested because (in addition to Tilley) they had concerns in the Rolling Hills, Scandia and Lake Newell Resort areas.”

With Rosemary, Rainier and Patricia also requiring new treatment facilities or upgrades, the idea for having one system to service the whole county came down to mathematics.

As for the two other county municipalities — Bassano and Duchess — Shields said those towns had new facilities built in the last decade and were a little resistant at first to join in.

“But eventually, they will need replacements. It might be in 10 to 15 years, (however) by buying in now, they are part of the (system),” said Shields.

The NRSC will be based at the Brooks Water Treatment Centre which is currently undergoing expansion. From there, clean water will be piped across the county as each of the four phases of the pipeline project is complete.

Two water quality technicians will eventually be required at the one water plant, instead of at each town and hamlet in the county.

“If you have treated water coming out of one plant that’s certified, (technicians) can monitor the water when it reaches those communities,” said Shields.

The mayor stressed the difference in provincial funding outcomes between going it alone and joining a regional system.

“If you built on your own you would get 30 cents on the dollar but if you built regionally, you get 80 to 90 cents on the dollar. Was it (government) pressure or incentive? I would say incentive.”

Ralph Havinga, general manager of the NRSC, explained the regional system has been a big undertaking, encompassing not only the city, town, hamlets and villages in the county but those homes in between.

“It’s challenging because you have a large urban centre like Brooks to a small centre like Rainier that has nine homes and a school. It’s not conflicting interests you have to deal with but different ones,” said Havinga. “And yet the end result has to be the same quality water.”

Three of the four phases are being or have been built with the fourth phase — the line to Bassano — still a few years away, said Havinga.

“Everybody else’s plants (aside from Bassano) are old, they don’t meet regulation and are inefficient to operate,” he said. “Out of the eight plants, six of them needed work including Brooks’. Thus the reason to put it all together.”

The whole project will cost $45 million, of which $37 million will be funded by the provincial government.

To put that into perspective, the town of Redcliff (population 5,000) is seeking nearly $10 million in funding to replace its water treatment facility, while Brooks and the County of Newell will share the $8 million cost to provide water to more than 20,000 residents over a 6,000 square kilometre area.

“This was born of an idea to bring everything together,” said Havinga.

REPORT ON SOUTHEAST ALBERTA 2010 ■ Celebrating our Community — 101

Brooks

multi-cultural society

ANDREA KLASSEN Medicine Hat News

As recently as 20 years ago, Brooks was a stereotypical prairie town - almost entirely Caucasian, with most new arrivals coming from Saskatchewan or other western destinations.

"There was virtually no visible minorities, not even Aboriginal Canadians in our area," remembers former Brooks mayor Don Weisbeck.

Visitors to the city of about 13,000 today, however, are presented with a far different community. According to Statistics Canada's 2006 census, over 2,000 Brooks residents were visible minorities, mainly of African or Asian descent.

Many of the city's "newcomers" - as city staff and community leaders refer to them - are refugees to Canada or temporary foreign workers. Most, says current mayor Martin Shields, immigrated to larger centres in Canada before employment opportunities brought them to southeast Alberta.

A major draw is local meat processing plant, XL Lakeside Packers, which employs up to 2,700 people and has relied heavily on workers from Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.

While employment is the main reason new Canadians head to Brooks, Mohammed Yusuf Idriss, settlement manager at Brooks' Global Friendship Immigration Centre (GFIC), says recent immigrants are also more likely to settle in the city now because of the presence of friends or community members from their countries of origin.

With the city forecasted to reach a population of 20,000 in the next 25 years, others in the country are taking note of Brooks' growth. A report released in 2009 by the Conference Board of Canada, which suggested immigration could help small towns reverse their economic fortunes, used Brooks as one of its success stories.

However, Brooks' transition to a multi-cultural community hasn't always been easy.

"Just the colour (of the newcomers) alone caused some reaction," says Weisbeck, who was mayor during the early days of the immigration wave. "There was no doubt about that."

While Lakeside first began recruiting refugees and recent immigrants in the 1990s, Weisbeck singles out 2003, and that year's BSE crisis, as the year the majority of Brooks' long time residents began to accept their changing city.

"People started realizing how important these people were, just in terms of adding to the economy of Brooks," he says.

"Compared to how things were 10 years ago, things are much better now,"

agrees

News Photo Andrea Klassen

GFIC's Idriss. "The c ommunit y's aware of the issue, and that they need to take a chance to make life better for newcomers and the mainstream population."

Michael Nuul Mayen of Brooks' Language Centre for Newcomers says he's seen relations improve between Brooks' newcomer and original populations since moving to the city three years ago.

Michael Nuul Mayen of Brooks' Language Centre for Newcomers says the community is adjusting more all the time. Even compared to three years ago, he says, newcomers and long-time residents are communicating better.

"People are coming with open hands, and people are working," he says. "People are working hard in the community. It's a struggle at times, but it's coming along,"

Though GFIC's mandate is to help immigrants settle in the area, it also runs a number of programs geared to the entire community. Workshops held in local schools, for instance, talk about empathy and promote a racism-free community.

Shields points out a number of ways in which the city celebrates its diversity as well. This summer's centennial celebrations are expected to feature a cultural exhibition which will include food and performances from various ethnic groups, as are the 2010 Southern Alberta Summer Games the city will host in July.

The Language Centre, formed to fill the high demand for English as a second language courses in the city, will also help improve integration says Mayen.

"There's a lot of generosity in the community... but because of the language barrier, what they (newcomers) want they can't express," he explains.

Generally, both Idriss and Mayen say the problems facing immigrants to Brooks are similar to those faced by immigrants to anywhere in Canada: Language barriers, culture shock and, in some cases, the long-term effects of living in war-torn nations or refugee camps.

While they say there's still room to improve support networks and integration in Brooks, both men are optimistic about the city's future as a multi-cultural community.

"If you talk to newcomers here, they tell you they sort of feel home in Brooks," says Idriss. "And I think that's because of the support they get from the community." Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120