Kawartha Lakes receives over $5 million in funding for cast iron water main replacement

The City of Kawartha Lakes announced it will be the recipient of over $5 million of funding awarded through the Small Communities Fund (SCF), a component of the New Building Canada Plan, which is intended to support critical infrastructure needs in municipalities and First Nations communities that have less than 100,000 residents.

The funds will be applied to a six year project that entails the replacement of ageing small-diameter cast iron water mains in Lindsay, and it will improve the safety, reliability and efficiency of the water distribution system. Cast iron water mains, especially those exceeding 80-100 years of age, are prone to corrosion, leakage and breaks. With the grant, the project could be completed as early as 2021, three years earlier than anticipated.

“This funding is a critical step towards assisting our municipality to maintain and upgrade our vast network of water and wastewater infrastructure. Without support from both the provincial and federal government, we would not have been able to schedule this project for completion in the next six years,” commented Juan Rojas, Director of Engineering and Assets for the City of Kawartha Lakes.

The project is expected to cost $8.6 million, over $5.7 million of which the provincial and federal government will jointly finance. The remaining one third of the cost will be financed by the City’s water user rates. The grant will help enable the City to begin rebuilding the depleted water/wastewater infrastructure reserve and to stabilize utility user rates. KG

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