As the City of Kamloops continues divesting itself from the Noble Creek Irrigation System in Westsyde, the City of Kamloops has decided to extend its deadline for the 41 users to accept a municipal taxpayer offer to assist them through the decommissioning process.
Utilities Services Manager Greg Wightman has confirmed to Radio NL some of the users have been attempting to press the City for an increase in their own levels of compensation before signing off on the compensation deal, worth a combined 3.2 million dollars.
“There’s certainly been some requests for that, but it is something we’re not entertaining,” said Wightman. “We’re not negotiating. The amounts that were offered were non-negotiable. I think there’s a little bit of a misconception in the community that that has happened. But I can assure everybody there’s been no negotiation, and there won’t be.”
Under a formula used by the city to provide compensation, based on land size, Noble Creek users are being given offers ranging from around $5,000 at the low end to roughly $250,000 for the largest properties.
The money is meant to help subsidize users as they search for ways to find permanent solutions to their watering needs.
As a result of the haggling, the City has extended its compensation window to the end of January from the original December 31st deadline.
It does warn that the compensation window will not be extended beyond the end of the month.
Meanwhile, Kamloops council will be receiving a report on Tuesday showing that only 24 of the 41 properties which use Noble Creek have signed-on for plans to use a temporary system the city is working on for this year’s growing season.
This means those two-dozen users will likely have to pay a higher portion of the roughly $150,000 the City might require to make the temporary system viable, with municipal taxpayers paying the rest of the cost of the temporary system, which could be anywhere from $500,000 to $700,000.
The final cost of the temporary system has yet to be confirmed, as the procurement process for the pumping systems the City is looking at purchasing or building is still in the process of being completed.
At the same time, the City is also leaving open the possibility of allowing the users to take over the system themselves.
“There is a Society that has been formed with the intention of exploring the possibility of taking over the infrastructure of the Noble Creek system, and potentially operating a community system. It would be a water-user community under the regulations,” noted Wightman. “Not entirely certain where they’re at right now, but one of the things we are doing in everything that is happening with the decommissioning is we’re making sure we’re leaving that possibility there.”
Calls from Radio NL to the organizers of the Noble Creek Users Society have not been returned in recent weeks.
Wightman says a number of Noble Creek users appear to have decided to try to set their own path forward.
“We’ve had about seven properties that are seeking apportionment,” said Wightman. “That essentially means they get some capacity provided to them, and they’re able to secure their own water license and install their own system.”
All this comes as work to decommission the decades-old irrigation system on the North Thompson continues to progress.
“Decommissioning of the Noble Creek Irrigation System’s at-risk portions continues as the City strives to have the work completed prior to freshet 2024,” notes a report written for Kamloops council on Tuesday.
“The City and its consultants/contractors have removed the existing pumphouse and settling basins and are awaiting permits and approvals for the remaining work.”