The year 2021 has been a historic drought year. The Council of the City of Morden adopted several water conservation measures and made arrangements to source additional water supply for the city during the year.
The City of Morden would like to thank all residents and businesses for their support in implementing the water conservation measures adopted by the Council of the City of Morden. The City of Morden would also like to thank Pembina Valley Water Cooperative for additional water supply (approx. 5-6.5 l/s) since June 2021, RM of Stanley for their assistance in reducing the usage from truck fill stations and Cheval Water System and Minnewasta Golf & Country for their assistance in reducing their usage from the lake.
All these measures helped to slow down the drawdown rate of the lake. As of September 20th, the lake level is at 10’ 7” below the full supply level which was earlier projected to be 12’ 6” below FSL by this time of the year.
To be proactive given the uncertain weather conditions, the City has entered into an agreement with Manitoba Water Service Board to connect a new 12” water main from the PVWC water main at Boundary Trails Health Centre to the existing 8” PVWC water main along Road 12N, and a new booster station on the PVWC’s 8” water line along Rd 12N. This new infrastructure will enable PVWC to supply up to 12l/s of water to the City of Morden starting tentatively from November 2021 through May 2022. This will help City to further reduce its withdrawal from the lake, reduce the drawdown on the lake and help City to ensure water supply all through next summer until we get enough precipitation which can bring the lake levels to normal.
The City through PVWC is also pursuing the construction of booster stations on the PVWC water main along PTH 23 so that more water can be moved to the corridor which will enable PVWC to provide the City of Morden up to 12l/s of water supply year-round. This will help City to sustain future growth in the coming 5–6-year period. Depending on the funding availability, this work is expected to be completed in 2022.
