The shared project that will bring Bow River water to the region is making its way through the planning stages before construction can begin.
The Foothills-Okotoks Regional Water Project will pipe water from an intake southeast of Calgary to water treatment plants in Okotoks and Foothills County.
Originally planned to be operational in August 2025, the completion date has been pushed back to 2026.
Okotoks CAO Elaine Vincent said there are two major parts of the project currently underway, the first involving the water intake well.
With land secured, submissions from contractors for construction of the intake are being reviewed, Vincent said.
“The delay on that was securing the land,” Vincent said. “The request for pre-qualifications has closed, (and) we're evaluating those submissions.”
The second part involves the pipeline itself, which is in the design phase.
“We anticipate, optimistically, that we'll be able to go out for procurement on that at the end of 2024,” she said.
The pipeline and intake are shared between Foothills County and the Town of Okotoks, but the Province requires a reservoir for future drought mitigation, and it will be solely owned by the Town.
“We have set that aside to do later, so that we can get the priority pieces — the water intake and the pipeline (completed),” she said.
Foothills County and the Town of Okotoks reached a previous agreement for the planning phase of the project, and another agreement will need to be hashed out before construction begins.
“Now that we're past the planning phase, we need to negotiate that memorandum of understanding, ultimately about cost sharing for the construction,” she said.
The Town of Okotoks has received millions of dollars in grant funding for the project from the Province’s Water for Life program.
The agreement would ensure the funding is shared between the Town and County the same way as the costs, Vincent said.
“If it's 80 per cent funded by the town of Okotoks, we would receive that grant,” she said. “But that hasn't fully negotiated yet."
Details of an agreement will likely be discussed at the next intermunicipal committee meeting between the two parties scheduled to be held in March, Vincent said.
“Once that agreement is reached, we can move into full construction," she added.
