The City is keeping all long-term options open for the Noble Creek water system while it pursues grant funding.

Staff will seek a new direction from council in early 2022 if grant funding is not successful.

If grant funding comes through, options for council will be to continue as planned with repair work outlined earlier this fall, to do necessary upgrades and sell the water system to its users, or to decommission the water system and find a new source of irrigation.

The work that has been proposed is valued at $14 million if it were to go ahead as planned. Council walked back a plan to have almost $12 million be covered by the 47 users.

In the meantime, utility services manager Greg Wightman says $1.7 million dollars worth of much-needed upgrades will be done on the water system.

Just under $1.1 million will go towards erosion protection along the North Thompson River, which Wightman called “by far the most urgent” issue to address with the water system.

“Where it stands right now, is erosion could result in a complete of the (Noble Creek Irrigation System) intake, if not addressed. And we’ve known about this erosion issue for several years,” he says.

Most of the remaining repair costs would be to replace pumps.

“And if we were to lose one of those pumps, that system is down, and we do not have an easy replacement. We could be six weeks until we get a new pump in there. Those pumps are at end of life. If we were to extend it to 2023, still not have any direction by 2023, we’re now in the final two years of having these pumps, and our risk is incredibly increased.”

Meanwhile, the 47 users of the water system will also see a 15-per-cent increase in water rates annually, until the annual operating deficit of the water system is washed out. The increase will amount to nearly $6,000 extra each year, and the annual operating deficit is more than $130,000 each year and growing; that indicates the 15-per-cent increase in rates will last more than 20 years under the current model.