Sandpiper residents will now get clean water, following an agreement reached between the Regional District of Nanaimo and the Town of Qualicum Beach.
For years, residents in the Electoral Area G (French Creek, San Pareil, Little Qualicum, Englishman River) community have had to endure reddish-brown water that is high in managanese and iron. They have had to individually shoulder the cost of treatment systems to improve the quality of the water, deemed potable by Island Health despite it not being aesthetically pleasing.
The agreement signed by both the RDN and the Town of Qualicum Beach will bring bulk water supply to the 242 households in the Sandpiper subdivision. It will be supplied by the Town of Qualicum Beach to the Sandpiper reservoir.
The RDN has allocated $970,000 from the Electoral Area G Community Works Funds to cover the capital costs to bring water to the reservoir, while allowing for infrastructure improvements and reinforcing the emergency water supply for the Chartwell and Eaglecrest communities.
RELATED: Petition underway to RDN to improve Sandpiper water quality
“For less than the cost of a bottle of water a day, Sandpiper residents will now have clean, safe water,” said Lehann Wallace, Area G director. “My sincere gratitude to Mayor Wiese, the Town of Qualicum Beach council and staff for recognizing the plight of their Area G neighbours and the RDN board and staff for solving this decades long issue.”
To enable Qualicum Beach to provide the water service, the RDN will continue to operate and maintain the Sandpiper reservoir and RDN pumphouse. Once the water connection is in place, an extensive flush of the entire system will be completed before water is distributed to households.
“All of our challenges in the future will require us to collaborate and co-operate,” said Wiese. “In coming to our decision on Sandpiper, we seriously considered the potential impacts of climate change on our system and concluded that we have the ability to help. The town can be a supportive regional partner and this agreement will fund improvements to our system to make it more capable and resilient.”
Construction on the project is expected to start immediately with water supply being provided to Sandpiper by early fall.
“The board values our working relationships with RDN member municipalities and is pleased to have reached an agreement with the Town of Qualicum Beach to provide residents of the Sandpiper subdivision with a new water supply,” said Tyler Brown, RDN chair.
For more details on the project visit qualicumbeach.com/sandpiper
— NEWS Staff