Two-million dollars in funding was announced for the Sunshine Coast Regional District's (SCRD) water system improvement project in Pender Harbour, Feb. 23.
The money will take the form of a $1 million grant and a $1 million loan, coming through the Green Muni-cipal Fund (GMF), an endowment made by the Canadian government through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).
The GMF targets initiatives boasting "significant environmental impact," especially innovative projects that have the potential to be repeated in other municipalities.
"The Sunshine Coast water quality initiative is another example of how municipal governments are enhancing their already very significant contributions to Canada's environmental objectives," said Berry Vrbanovic, president of FCM.
Financing through the GMF will allow the SCRD to move forward with its Pender Harbour water quality project.
Efficiency measures like universal metering, leak detection and repair and fixture replacement programs, among others, will form the pursuits that the SCRD is hoping will reduce water consumption by as much as 30 per cent in the region.
Currently, the Pender Harbour water system lacks metering systems and multi-barrier water quality protection.
"It's a testament to the leading role this regional district is playing, and the communities of Gibsons and Sechelt," said West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country member of Parliament John Weston of the announcement. "We need to harness our technology and the environment and sustainability as an economic driver."
The GMF was originally born out of a $550 million fund given to FCM from the Canadian government.
During their tenure as managers of the fund, FCM claims to have generated $3 billion in economic activity across a spectrum of 875 green community projects.
The SCRD signed on to the organization in December 2007.
A case study of the project will be published on the FCM website allowing its almost 2,000 member municipalities to benefit from the experience of the SCRD.
"In some cases, the measures needed to improve water quality vary among systems," said SCRD board chair Garry Nohr, pointing to the extended periods of boil water advisories the area has endured.
Those measures include extending water mains to widen the area that is accessible to the regional supply and treatment measures including arsenic, package treatment and construction of "one or more new water treatment plants.
"These measures will improve water quality to Canadian drinking water quality guideline levels or better for all systems," Nohr said.
The total value of the project is estimated to be more than $7 million.
