The board of directors for the Pembina Valley Water Co-op has signed off on the organization's five year capital works program.

A study, which was initiated in August of 2017 and completed in April of this year, identified three priority projects that the utility will need to undertake in that time.

The number one key project is the installation of a 14' pipeline from the Morris water treatment plant to St. Jean. Oddly enough, there is no line connecting those two neighbouring communities which are located along the Red River.

"We have a water plant in Letellier that is being pushed to the edge, so this pipeline would give us the ability to bring some Morris water down to service areas like the RM of Montcalm," said Greg Archibald, CEO for the Water Co-op. "It would also give us the ability to bring Letellier water back up to Morris. Putting that line in there just gives us some flexibility."

The project is estimated to cost about $1.8 million with installation to occur in the spring of 2019 at the earliest.

The PVWC's second priority undertaking would be its most expensive at $5 million and would occur at Letellier in the next two to three years, and no, it does not involve replacing the utility's aging water treatment plant there.

Instead, the plan calls for the construction of a new treated water reservoir that would create increased water storage capacity and support changing government regulations.

"Sometimes during dry periods we don't have enough water storage and the plant actually shuts down in the middle of the night. Just having the proper amount of storage there will help us to smooth out some of those operational spikes," said Archibald.

Archibald added that, while replacing the Letellier plant would be desirable, they would still need to expand their water storage at that location regardless.

"We have penciled in somewhere down the road the potential to replace the plant or perhaps supplement it with a membrane plant. We could build a membrane plant in stages, but we still need a treated water reservoir, so getting that out front in a priority."

The third key capital project involves the installation of a second six inch pipeline from Roland to Winkler to feed the Winkler-Morden corridor.

The line is a response to the significant population growth in those two communities and in the RM of Stanley.

"The project is dependent on the needs in the Winkler-Morden corridor ... and also depends on Winkler's ability to access their aquifer for water supply. But, this line would support additional growth in that area."

The water line is about four years down the road, according to Archibald, and would cost almost $2 million dollars to build.