The Province of Manitoba has announced a further $5.65M in funding for the Springfield Water Treatment Plant expansion project. 

This is in addition to the $5M that was announced back in January and it will be matched by the RM of Springfield to fund the $20.6M project. 

Springfield-Ritchot MLA Ron Schuler says the water treatment plant will be built between Oakbank and Dugald to accommodate massive growth in the area. 

“We have a heavy growth and what we would like to see is rather than individual wells, eventually towns would go to a water treatment plant system. It is central, it provides water, and it also provides water for fire suppression, it puts enough pressure in the pipes that you don't have to run with the trucks of water, you actually have fire hydrants." 

Schuler says this new plant will be built between Oakbank and Dougald and will service both communities. He adds it will expand on a system that is already in place. 

“The system itself isn't that old but it is limited in its size. This will definitely expand it to allow for a couple of very substantial additions to Oakbank and Dougald.” 

Schuler says the province's plan was always to invest just over $10M, but back in January, only the $5M portion from municipal relations had been approved. 

“The next allotment comes from the Manitoba Water Services Board and that is what we are announcing last week, that was what was announced. The entire amount that the province is giving in matching funds is $10.3M. The project is over $20M but we couldn't announce the entire amount because not all of it had gotten approval yet.” 

For the most part, Schuler says people don’t pay much attention to things like water and sewer. He notes as long as the tap has water and the toilet flushes, it is out of mind but these services are absolutely vital to the success of our communities and should be celebrated.