As the County grows, its water/wastewater infrastructure must adapt to the needs of community, industry, and adjacent municipalities. This means reducing our reliance on aging wells, and replacing end-of-life sewage lagoons with smarter systems.

Presently, we need to address lagoons that are approaching their engineered capacities. By connecting these lagoons via a transmission line with a discharge point, these lagoons can continue to operate safely and effectively for years to come.

The sewage lagoon near Darwell is nearing its engineered capacity. Discharging the lagoon is not an option. Expanding the lagoon, while possible, is an expensive undertaking that would only extend its service life by an additional five years.

By installing a wastewater transmission line to connect the Darwell, West Cove and Alberta Beach sewage lagoons, and by placing a discharge line east of the Tri-Village locality, the heavily-used Darwell Lagoon can continue to operate for many years to come.

Tri Village is a term that refers to the Village of Alberta Beach, Summer Village of Sunset Point, and Summer Village of Val Quentin.

The Darwell lagoon is the receiving lagoon for a large portion of our southern residents. It is an evaporative lagoon with no discharge allowed. The wastewater line between the Darwell lagoon and the Tri-Village lagoon will provide the Darwell lagoon with a discharge.

This lagoon was expanded in 2010 due to capacity issues, with the intent that this line would be built in the future. Rather than expand the lagoon again at a high cost, we applied and received a grant for the line at a 90/10 split (90% funded by the province and federal government). This line and discharge will provide a long-term solution without the need to expand.

Without this pipeline being installed, there would be a need to expand the current lagoon at a substantial cost that would only provide a few years relief. We would be in the same position in approximately five years — again, with no ability to discharge.

The Darwell lagoon currently serves a large portion of our southern population through truck haul. In the future, there will be opportunities for areas to potentially tie into the pipeline, however, there will be requirements that need to be met to make this happen.

Federal and provincial grant funding is essential to building each phase of the regional wastewater transmission line. The County covers its share of such projects via the Wastewater Tax Levy.

In 2019, the Province approved $11.3 million in grant funding for Phase A of the wastewater project, which entails construction of a wastewater transmission line from the Summer Village of Sandy Beach to the Town of Onoway lagoon facility. In 2020, provincial and federal funding enabled the County to embark on Phase B, which is a similar wastewater transmission line between Darwell and Alberta Beach.

To date the County has secured roughly $25 million in infrastructure grant funding. This represents a ratio of 90 per cent funding from various levels of government, and the remaining 10 per sent covered by the County. Click Here to read the March 2021 media release regarding funding milestones.

Yes; all property owners will contribute to this initiative through their portion of the Wastewater Special Tax Levy. These tax revenues will service the annual debt payments for this undertaking.

The County's population has grown 1.57% year-over-year, with an increase of 2.27% over the last five years. Visit the Alberta Regional Dashboard for more demographic data on Lac Ste. Anne County.

The Darwell lagoon currently serves a large portion of our southern population through truck haul. The pipeline being installed as part of the Phase 2 undertaking will be tied to the Darwell and Tri-Village lagoons, and will include a discharge line to the east. This line will allow the Darwell Lagoon to continue to operate for far more years versus a temporary and expensive expansion of the lagoon.

In the future, there will be opportunities for areas to potentially tie into the pipeline, however, there will be requirements that need to be met to make this happen.

All properties owned within the County incur the Wastewater Tax Levy. This tax revenue is then applied to different water/wastewater projects and infrastructure assets that benefit all County residents. Specific examples include lagoon & wastewater systems, and the pipeline connecting the Darwell Lagoon to the Tri-Village Lagoon.

2023 financial Statements are still being finalized; however, the County’s 2022 unused debt limit was $26,637,456.00.