There are thousands of kilometers of water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure connecting homes and businesses in rural Alberta – and no matter what type of utility you examine or the region in which it is located, you will find that this essential infrastructure is in disrepair and disrepair. in need of significant investment, according to a new report from Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA).

The RMA’s Water Services Asset Gap Report used municipal data and surveys to assess the condition, lifespan and cost of repair of infrastructure managed by its members.

In the report, the lifespan and health of this rural infrastructure were examined as a single portfolio.

This portfolio had an average health of 67 percent and its effective age was estimated at just over 50 years, based on an average useful life of approximately 65 years.

The funding needed to bring infrastructure to the most manageable and cost-effective state is $2.96 billion more than rural municipalities currently have access to.

RMA recently released similar studies on the condition of roads and bridges in rural Alberta, which identified comparable funding gaps.

However, unlike the province’s roads, the report says there are no diversion options or alternatives if water infrastructure fails.

“Utilities such as water, electricity and stormwater are essential services that must remain reliable and operational in all conditions. Failure or underperformance of these critical services can have serious consequences, impacting both daily life and emergency response capabilities,” the report said.

Maxine Fodness, deputy reeve of St. Paul County, said the main problem he faces is aging water and sewer lines in his hamlets. Distribution lines are the pipes that connect individual homes.

In Ashmont, the lines date back to the 1960s. Mallaig and Lottie Lake had distribution lines installed in the 1970s, although in the case of Lottie Lake the pipe came from the city of St. Paul, Fodness said.

“So we’ve been bringing water to our little hamlets, and the distribution lines are broken. Or they’re old and need to be replaced. The province currently has no funding for that,” Fodness said.

Without provincial support, the county’s only options would be to raise taxes or take out loans. For Fodness and St. Paul County, that’s out of the question.

“If we don’t get any help from the province, we just can’t afford it. Because residents can’t afford to pay for it,” Fodness said.

The utilities surveyed in the RMA report serve approximately 714,000 people. If these taxpayers were to cover the $2.96 billion infrastructure deficit, it would cost each person $4,150.

The two main sources of infrastructure funding in rural Alberta are the federal Canada Community Futures Fund and the province’s Local Government Financing Framework (LGFF).

The amount each municipality receives from the LGFF is calculated using a formula in which population accounts for 65 percent of the weighting. RMA said this formula disadvantages rural Alberta, which is sparsely populated but rich in infrastructure.

In 2024, rural municipalities will receive approximately $149 million in LGFF funding.

Christine Wiese, reeve of Westlock County, said that although the main water transmission lines that connect hamlets to treatment facilities were upgraded in 2019, the condition of the lines in the communities themselves remains a mystery .

“These (distribution lines) have not been touched for years. We have connected the new lines to the hamlets, but we need a study on what exactly is happening underneath for the pipe infrastructure water,” she said. said.

Wiese said that study is already underway and the results will be presented to council in the coming weeks.

“This is a report we needed to help us develop a more targeted plan and prioritize upgrades that will be specifically based on each hamlet.”

The RMA report notes that many rural municipalities do not have the resources or systems to record the condition of utility assets, impacting their ability to make informed decisions about capital projects.

According to the report, these data blind spots and inconsistent asset management practices across the province “result in disparities in the condition of infrastructure across the province, with some areas receiving adequate attention and resources, while that others experience accelerated deterioration and increased risks.”

The full report can be viewed on RMA website.