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"The local improvement proposed herein involves the renewal of water lines within the L.U.D. (local urban district) of Rapid City," the notice said. It went on to outline the total costs of water main renewals at $7,623,500.00. Federal and provincial funding will pay for more than half of that amount, leaving $2,836,807.25 for taxpayers.
Numerous people who lived on a First Nation in Canada - including Saskatchewan - that had a long-term drinking water advisory for more than a year are eligible to submit a claim for compensation. The First Nations Drinking Water Settlement provides compensation for both individuals and First Nations Band Councils that were impacted by long-term drinking water advisories that lasted continuously for at least one year between Nov. 20, 1995, and June 20, 2021. The deadline to apply is March 7, 2023.
Just two hours outside Toronto, more than 2,000 households on Six Nations of the Grand River live without a basic human right: clean water. Some residents can’t simply fill up a glass at their taps and drink, take a shower, or bathe their children without worrying about the water being contaminated. “We’re doing our best to progress our community as best as we can. But there comes challenges,” said Chief Mark Hill. “One of those challenges is the access to clean drinking water, potable water.”
After decades of dealing with discoloured water, residents of Potlotek First Nation in Nova Scotia are able to put it in the past. A water treatment plant and tower has cleared and made the water safe to use, but despite the work, some residents still have concerns. "Still a lot of people won't drink it and I don't blame them. It's going to take a while yet. There's some skepticism, I guess if the water is safe," said Potlotek First Nation Chief, Wilbert Marshall. The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority is hoping for that to change.
Rebecca Zagozewski, executive director with the Saskatchewan First Nations Water Association, says cisterns can pose health risks to those who rely on them. She says the structures can have cracked lids, which allows all sorts of debris to get into them — including rats, mice, drowned puppies and garbage — and they’re often not cleaned properly. On top of that, she says the Saskatchewan First Nations Water Association is concerned that there is no certification program for water truck drivers. The group wants to create such a program where drivers would have to be trained in how to keep the water safe and be held accountable if things go wrong. “Because right now there’s no accountability,” she says.
The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation is expanding its water system to deliver clean drinking water to hundreds of residents who have been grappling for more than a decade with seven drinking water advisories. The Bay of Quinte is on Lake Ontario and the First Nation is not remote or isolated. It’s just off Ontario’s Highway 401, between Toronto and Montreal. Chief R. Donald Maracle said his community has suffered from a lack of safe water since 2008, due to fecal, bacterial and algae contaminations. A regional drought made many groundwater wells go completely dry in 2017.
“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”
The Columbia River Treaty, an international agreement governing the flow of water between British Columbia and six U.S. states, will be 55 years old this year. It has not aged well. The river springs from the Columbia Icefield in the Rocky Mountains of B.C. and winds 1,930 kilometres through the Northwestern United States – Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming. No other river in North America spills more water into the Pacific Ocean.
