The Town of Niverville has received the 2019 Environment Award from the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators or CAMA.

Rod Sage is the City Manager for Brandon and the CAMA representative for Manitoba and Saskatchewan. He says Niverville is being recognized for their environmentally friendly lagoon remediation project. He attended Niverville’s council meeting on Tuesday to present them with the award.

CAMA Representative Rod Sage "The Town of Niverville through their phytoremediation project was awarded an award for a community under 20,000, a very prestigious award and it is something that is recognized across Canada. All cities and communities across Canada are compared against one another on projects and the Town of Niverville won out this year for their project so it is a pretty impressive project and award."

When Niverville’s old lagoon on the south end of town reached the end of it’s life, the council of the time decided to experiment with bioremediation which uses native plants to decommission the cells and turn them into wetlands rather than bringing the sludge to an environmental waste facility.

Mayor Myron Dyck says this was the first project of its kind and it has been beneficial to the community in more than one way.

"It is nice to be recognized but you don't do it to be recognized. We saved a million dollars so that was one big reason to do it is that hauling it away would have cost us more than doing it this way. Now that we can see this being told to other communities across our country, we want to do what is right not just for our community but we are looking to assist all communities."

Dyck gives credit to Former Mayor Greg Fehr and Former CAO Jim Buys along with the council of the day for taking lead on this project. He also thanks Ducks Unlimited, Native Plant Solutions, the University of Manitoba, and the province for partnering with them on this.

The province has already released one of the lagoon cells, and Dyck says the remaining cells are well on their way. He notes the wetlands are now home to wildlife and may native plants and the town is working on a trail system and kiosk to open up the wetlands for the public's enjoyment.