Now that it has $9-million from the provincial and federal governments, the City of Windsor can move forward on 13 projects to prevent future basement flooding.
The projects include assessments at the Pontiac and St. Paul Pumping Stations, upgrades at the Lou Romano Water Reclamation Plant, finishing a city-wide study on the condition of sewers, and projects to replace combined sewers on several Windsor streets.
The total price tag for the work will come in around $12-million, but the federal government is providing $6.1-million under the new Government of Canada Clean Water and Wastewater Fund. The province is providing another $3-million to lower the bill for the city to just $3-million.
Without the funding, Mayor Drew Dilkens says these are projects that simply would not go ahead.
"No, they wouldn't have. We would have only had $3-million to undertake over $12-million worth of work," says Dilkens. "We applied for 13 projects... and we were approved for all 13 projects."
Few of the projects are in East Windsor, which was devastated by a flood last September, but City Engineer Mark Winterton says priority was placed on the most vulnerable areas now.
"It's not quite as easy as just chasing the rain," he says. "If that same rain had happened in South Windsor or West Windsor we would have had a similar type of circumstance. So, we kind of hit where the need is the most."
Winterton says the work will start immediately and under the conditions of the grants, it has to be done by March 31, 2018, although efforts are underway to try and extend that deadline.
In addition to the Windsor projects, the federal and provincial governments are providing more than $15-million in funding for work that needs to be done in Essex County. Amherstburg will receive $3.73-million to upgrade its water treatment plant reservoir. The Town of Essex applied for and received $1.47-million in funding for four projects. There are seven projects in Kingsville for which the town will get $870,767. Lakeshore will get $2.6-million to get designs for its Stoney Point Wastewater Treatment Plant drawn up and sewer construction on Oakwood St. Another $1.07-million will go to LaSalle for two projects, Pelee Island will receive $75,000 and Leamington will get $3.44-million.
The Clean Water and Wastewater Fund is new, and cities and towns will be able to apply for funding each year.