Williams Lake residents on the west side will be better protected in case of fire thanks to a grant from the province for a new booster station.
The city was one of a number of local governments and First Nations who will receive a total of approximately $56 million from the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund to help improve community resilience in disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation.
Williams Lake was awarded $1.2 million in funding, some of which will go towards a climate disaster vulnerability risk assessment and some for the Fairview Drive emergency booster station.
Mayor Surinderpal Rathor and Councillor Scott Nelson met with Minister Bowen Ma on Sept. 18 at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) conference and thanked her for the funding.
"This investment from the province will ensure the important water supply for the west side residents is protected and available. With the addition of this booster station, our ability to supply water in an emergency situation will be enhanced and will assist in protecting our residents," said Rathor in a statement after the meeting.
The funding will enable the city to put in a secondary booster station to supply the Woodland Drive reservoir, using existing mains from zone 1 to zone 2 to have redundant supply into the Westridge/Golfcourse/Hodgson subdivision areas.
Groundwater and a historic landslide have created instability in the area. This upgrade will establish a second feed to the the Westridge/Golfcourse/Hodgson subdivision areas and Woodland reservoir in event there is a service interruption in the Hodgson area.
Rathor, Nelson and Coun. Sheila Boehm were all at the UBCM conference in Vancouver last week, along with some staff.
