Plans for a Peachland water treatment facility were bolstered this weekend.
The federal and provincial government are each providing $3,480,000 to improve year-round water quality in the town.
The Peachland water treatment plant, which has been in the planning stage for several years, was one of 26 infrastructure projects in B.C. to receive money from the Small Communities Fund.
“When public infrastructure in many of our smaller communities is in need of repair or upgrade, the high costs associated are often difficult for a community alone to bear,” said Todd Stone, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure in a government press release.
“However, when senior levels of government act together, we can facilitate these important infrastructure improvements and build stronger communities throughout B.C.”
In January of 2015, plans for a water treatment plant in Peachland were estimated to cost the municipality $18.8 million.
In 2007 Peachland adopted a Water Management Plan that included a water filtration plant for the Peachland Creek source, eventual abandonment of the Trepanier Creek source and the Ponderosa wells and a filtered water trunk line for the entire service area from Princeton Ave through to the Trepanier Bench.
The Okanagan Lake pump station supply was to be retained as a standby emergency source of water.
That plan was tweaked in 2015 to address a growth in projected population growth from plans for the Ponderosa/Pincushion development at 2,200 units and the New Monaco proposal at 2,300 units.