5 minute read
Town of Viking Dives into World of Water Conservation
Town of Viking Dives into World of Water Conservation
Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser
The Town of Viking officially opened its seasonal raw water pumping station on April 26. Mayor James Buttner had the honour of officially cutting the ribbon before guests headed over to the community hall for an open house and speeches.
Buttner told guests in attendance that Alberta is no stranger to droughts and 2024 is shaping up to be another one of those years, however, they have something in place to tackle it head on.
The Seasonal Raw Water Pumping Station is now officially open! It's here to make sure that even with the looming drought, we've got enough water to go around, not just for now, but for years to come. This pumping station isn't just some quick fix either. It's a long-term investment in our community. It's our way of saying, "Hey, we're in this together, and we're making sure everyone's got what they need."
Town Council and administration chose to run with this idea for two reasons: First the conservation of drinking water, and two, drought mitigation to support our Ag neighbors, as well as Fire Fighting efforts.
Currently treated water at the water tower is $12.00/m3. We are offering filtered raw water for $6.00/m3. This system is set up for dual fill with Ag members’ precious time in mind, as well as the urgency of fire-fighting efforts. We have a flow rate of 300 m3 and filtering to 10 micron to suit their needs. This system is completely separate from our treated water system at the tower, so you will need to set up a new account for the raw water station. You can take an application form today and go to the town office to get it all set up next week.
Viking has maintained its reservoir water infrastructure since the 80s, and all together our three reservoirs can hold 274 million gallons of raw water. Two of these reservoirs are located south of Viking, and are filled by Iron Creek.
So, bottom line: we're prepared. We've got the infrastructure, the know-how, and the determination to keep our community thriving, no matter what Mother Nature throws our way.
Camrose Constituency MLA Jackie Lovely told attendees, “This all started because Doug Lefsrud (Town of Viking CAO) wrote a proposal and we had a conversation. I put it Minister Rebecca Schultz’s hands and said the Town of Viking has a solution for you. They want to give you a body of water and we are facing a serious drought. You would not believe the big smile on her face and I just wanted to thank you so much. You guys as a council are so proactive in addressing your problem, so community give them a big round of applause.”
Gene Hrabec stated, “As Chair of the Ag. Service Board and Deputy Reeve of Beaver County I’d like to thank CAO Lefsrud, Mayor Buttner and all of the Viking council and their staff for all of their proactive and forward thinking while working on this project.
As a lifelong agricultural producer, water is the most critical source for life, but it also very important to management. Your council has made a strong commitment not only to agricultural producers in Beaver County, but to producers within that radius that covers the County of Minburn, Wainwright, Flagstaff and all the municipalities within Beaver County.
Making this project come forward is something not only council should be proud of, but community members should be very proud of that. It’s made a strong commitment in stepping up and delivering this in a short amount of time. It’s pretty amazing. Thanks from the agricultural producers. Everyone I’ve talked to is very happy, but you will get something from me, you will get my support to talk to Jackie about funding, because one of the issues is these projects go ahead without the funding in place, it’s hard to get grants. So, hopefully any granting streams that come forward this summer, we can work with the Alberta Government to ensure these types of projects are funded.
Thank you on behalf of agricultural producers for taking the lead, and hopefully, we can ride off the coattails of this.”
In a post-presentation interview with the Vegreville News Advertiser, Mayor Buttner said $375,000 had been budgeted for phase one of the project, the pumping station. Phase two would be a $6 million investment and would include a second source of potable water in case of emergency or disaster as well as retention pond on the outskirts of town and back up battery for power in case of blackouts in the community.”
