A major upgrade to a local water system in Lower Sahali is set to get underway this month.

The Pemberton Water System in Greenstone Park, a popular spot amongst dog walkers and winter enthusiasts, will be completely overhauled, including the creation of a new reservoir and booster station.

Matt Katchel, the City of Kamloops’ Capital Projects Manager, says blasting work is going to be needed.

“We need to remove that rock so that we can get the reservoir bottom at the right elevation so that it works with the rest of the system. So that is the whole need of the blasting and will depend on how much bedrock we find.”

The City promises the blasting — which may take up to two weeks — will be controlled as best as possible to ensure there is minimal shaking and damage to nearby properties.

However, Katchel says the entirety of Greenstone Park will be closed for quite some time.

“We are going to have to close the entire park just because the depth we have to dig and the activities on site with moving dirt around would just be too difficult to keep anything open. So the park will be 100 per cent closed.”

The City says it intends to restore Greenstone Park to its original condition but with new turf and irrigation.

“The project involves the construction of a new 1.3 megaliter concrete reservoir which will be buried in the ground, similar to the ones that are there right now, and then there will be a new booster station to pump to that reservoir and the two existing ones,” explained Katchel.

The project is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

–With files from Abby Zieverink & Brett Mineer