The federal government says it will look into what it would take to improve the water and sewer system in Garden Hill First Nation in Northern Manitoba — a fly-in reserve where many residents refuse to drink their tap water for fear it’s unsafe.
Michel Burrowes, a deputy director with Indigenous Services Canada, said the federal agency decided to move ahead with a feasibility study "in part" because of concerns raised by a recent CBC investigation that revealed Garden Hill residents struggle to access clean water.
Options could include building a new water treatment plant and an expanded water main, allowing more homes can get their water piped directly from the plant, he said.
Government officials plan to meet with Garden Hill’s chief and council on Feb. 14 to discuss the study.
Burrowes also said it’s unlikely that any of the homes lacking running water and indoor plumbing will be part of the review; those homes were left out of an earlier retrofit program that installed running water in the community because they were unfit to live in.
A previous study completed in 2012 found that Garden Hill’s water treatment plant is expected to remain serviceable until 2032, Burrowes said.
Funding for a new plant was reviewed, but since Garden Hill isn’t under a boil-water advisory, it wasn’t considered a priority.
"The service standard is to provide potable water to all the houses — and part of that service standard says that you can do it by truck," he said.
Two years later, the federal government launched a $40-million program to retrofit 769 homes in the region — including 216 in Garden Hill — with cistern and indoor plumbing.
But a CBC investigation found that not all the water tanks are regularly cleaned.