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WHEREAS the Government of Alberta supports rural sustainability and quality of life through various programs; and
WHEREAS water and wastewater distribution systems in Alberta require repair and replacement to ensure the health and safety of residents; and
WHEREAS the Government of Alberta’s 2024 budget only included minimal funding for new water and wastewater systems, not funding for the repair and replacement of existing systems; and
WHEREAS many municipalities struggle to fund the necessary repairs to existing water and wastewater systems, thus making costs for residents unaffordable; and
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Rural Municipalities of Alberta advocate for the Government of Alberta to restore Water for Life Program (WFLP) funding levels and expand WFLP eligibility to include water and wastewater distribution system replacements and maintenance.
Member Background:
The County of St. Paul Regional Water System provides municipal water and wastewater services to the hamlets of Ashmont, Mallaig, and Lottie Lake. Each hamlet has a water distribution system, with Mallaig and Ashmont having wastewater collection systems and lagoons. Today, that infrastructure is reaching its end of useful life, causing various issues that are costly to fix.
The County has spent more than $375,000 on professional, legal, and engineering services to develop a detailed infrastructure replacement plan, outlining a phasing and funding strategy. The estimated cost for this plan in 2021 was $23 million (or $1.6 million per year to service the debt if the County borrowed the amount). This estimate has likely since increased with inflation.
For the estimate currently on hand, the County has determined that 45% of the costs will be funded through tax revenue, reserves, and utility rates designed to cover the full cost of water distribution and wastewater collection systems.
Without provincial support, the 300 properties in these hamlets are left to cover the remaining 55%, paying approximately $3,000 per year for 30 years. This is almost double their current annual property taxes, meaning they will be paying three times more than their current taxes. This is not sustainable nor feasible to expect these communities to take on these costs.
The County of St. Paul is not the only municipality facing these issues, as many rural and small urban municipalities have similar infrastructure issues and costs with declining populations. RMA used municipal data and surveys on water utilities to prepare a portfolio on the lifespan and health of this infrastructure, which showed that the funding needed to bring rural municipal infrastructure to a manageable and cost-effective state is $2.96 billion more than municipalities currently have access to.
RMA Background:
RMA has no active resolutions directly related to this issue.
Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the resolution endorsed by the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) during the Spring 2025 Convention. The resolution is for the Government of Alberta to restore funding levels for the Water for Life (W4L) grant funding program and expand its eligibility criteria to include water and wastewater distribution system replacements and maintenance.
As Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors, I acknowledge the financial challenges municipalities, particularly in rural Alberta, are facing in renewing and maintaining essential water infrastructure. The Government of Alberta recognizes current funding levels may not fully align with the increasing demands of aging systems and evolving service expectations.
To support ongoing infrastructure priorities, Budget 2024 provided the department with an increase of $55 million over three years. In addition, Budget 2025 reinforces the Government of Alberta’s commitment to water infrastructure through a dedicated investment of $257.5 million over three years under Water for Life.
Funding will be distributed as follows:
This investment reflects a strategic focus on sustaining Alberta’s regional water and wastewater systems, ensuring long-term resiliency, and access to safe, reliable water services.
Another step towards ensuring the long-term resiliency of our regional water/wastewater is addressing chronic lapses in W4L that have exceeded $100M over the last five years. With the pressures facing municipalities’ water infrastructure, department staff are eager to work with municipalities to spend the grants they apply for in a timely fashion in accordance with the cash flows they submit. We could increase funding to municipalities significantly if we were able to achieve on time delivery of their projects.
W4L is structured to prioritize core system components, namely, water treatment plants, reservoirs, and main transmission lines, this focus reflects the need to allocate limited funding toward projects which provide the greatest return on investment for entire regions. Considering funding constraints, it is essential the government prioritizes projects which serve multiple communities, promote regional collaboration, and enhance long-term system efficiency and reliability. As a result, localized distribution systems which serve individual municipalities, hamlets, county residential developments, or rural water cooperatives are not eligible for grant funding.
Resolution 9-25S: Water and Wastewater System Funding was formally received and acknowledged and will continue to inform internal discussions during upcoming budget planning and policy development cycles. Should you wish to discuss this matter further, or provide additional input, please contact Paul Smith, Assistant Deputy Minister, Capital Planning, Grants and Engineering Services directly. Mr. Smith can be reached toll-free by first dialling 310-0000, then 780-293-4901, or at paul.c.smith@gov.ab.ca.
Thank you for your advocacy on behalf of Alberta’s rural municipalities. We value our continued partnership with RMA in ensuring Alberta’s infrastructure funding programs remain responsive, strategic, and fiscally responsible.
Development:
Resolution 9-25S calls upon the GOA to increase available funding and expand the eligibility requirements for the Water for Life (W4L) grant program to ensure that all rural communities receive the necessary funding to address current concerns with aging water and wastewater infrastructure.
In 2024, RMA determined that the cost to repair and restore rural water and wastewater infrastructure to high-functioning, efficient, and cost-effective levels to be $310 million. At this level of repair and restoration, future maintenance costs would be considerably lower than they are today. The cumulative effect of the repairs and restoration would significantly reduce municipalities’ reliance on Provincial grants – generally – to maintain resilient, safe, and reliable water and wastewater infrastructure on a continuing basis.
While W4L has been a relatively consistent stream of provincial funding for water and wastewater infrastructure repair and restoration for rural municipalities, W4L funding allocations from the GOA have not reached the necessary ambition. The Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors (TEC) provides that $257.5 million will be allocated through W4L over the next three fiscal years. While this will improve upon the $50 million allocated through 2024-25, the total amount remains unfortunately inadequate to address the current and growing needs of rural municipalities.
RMA is also concerned that TEC allocates a level of blame on municipalities in respect of grant applications. RMA appreciates that funding levels are determined by available application information to the minister and cabinet; however, RMA is seeking clarity on the extent to which failures to abide by applied timelines are responsible for the lack of available funding. Municipalities make applications for funding using the best available data, prioritizing projects based on local needs. The implication that municipalities are not expending funds in a timely manner is especially problematic when there are other significant costs associated with the development and submission of project proposals as part of the W4L application that must be accounted for prior to actualization of the grant application.
As the minister has not committed to expanding funding to levels necessary to account for the estimated costs of repairing and restoring water and wastewater infrastructure, nor committed to developing and applying appropriate qualification criterion, RMA has applied a status of Intent not Met. RMA is and will continue to advocate for appropriate funding levels and qualification criteria for rural water and wastewater infrastructure.
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