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Facts about the Arrowsmith Water System

Lots to know about AWS

• The Arrowsmith Water Service is a joint venture agreement, signed in 1996 between the Regional District of Nanaimo, City of Parksville and Town of Qualcum Beach.

• In 1989 the City of Parksville, the Town of Qualicum Beach and the Regional District of Nanaimo conducted independent water feasibility studies. Subsequent assessments of water quality and quantity, the environment, and system management and costs concluded that the best option for a supplementary water source was to dam Arrowsmith Lake.

• The project was to build a dam upstream on the Englishmen River and create a secondary source of drinking water to the residents of the member municipalities. The dam and water supply were completed in 1998 and were officially opened in 2000.

• The current water licence held by AWS was based on providing sufficient supply to support water needs until 2021.

• The dam and associated engineering structures cost $5.2 million. Residents of Parksville, Qualicum Beach and RDN Water Local Service Areas in French Creek and Nanoose Bay contributed to this cost.

— Source: www.arrowsmithwaterservice.ca