Money will be used to connect to the Lake Huron water system to get clean drinking water and fire protection
Oneida Nation of the Thames, an Indigenous community near London, Ontario, that has been told to boil its water since 2019, has received $43 million from the federal government to bring treated drinking water to the community.
The connection to the Lake Huron Primary Water System will give potable water to more than 500 homes and public buildings in the 2,000-person town.
Oneida has had a boil water advisory since September 2019, and it will stay in place until September 2020. In December, the community had to declare a state of emergency because of problems with the water quality and water pressure.
Chief Todd Cornelius said he is thrilled by the news, which comes after he lobbied Indigenous Services Canada for several months.
Cornelius said, “Water is life.””We’ve come a long way, and even though we’ve been strong, we know that clean water is important to the health of our community as a whole. I can’t wait for the day when people in our community can just turn on the tap to get water. We need to get to work to make this happen. I want to thank the people of Oneida and the government for sticking with this process and working to make this agreement official.”
“Powerful response” to funding for wate
Brandon Doxtator is in charge of the environment in Oneida. He said that the news was shared with the community at a meeting on Wednesday.
He told CBC News, “It was such a strong answer.” “People were cheering because they were happy. We can’t wait to see what happens next.”
Doxtator said that the community’s water problems have been a daily source of frustration.
“Water is a sacred force, and the Great Lakes hold one-fifth of all the fresh water in the world. It doesn’t make sense to me that there is a problem with the quality and amount of water.”
The project to build water infrastructure is expected to be done in 18 to 24 months. Doxtator said that once the money is in place, the next step is to hire a team of engineers to oversee the project and make detailed plans for the pipeline.
Doxtator said that the money will pay for getting the water to Oneida and upgrading the distribution system from four- or six-inch lines to 12-inch lines.
But the money won’t cover the cost of adding fire hydrants and other things to Oneida to protect against fires. This has been a problem in the neighborhood, especially since a terrible house fire in 2016 killed five people from one family. Doxtator said that as the town grows, fire protection will be added.
In January, CBC News said that Oneida had made a deal with the Lake Huron water system to build an 18-kilometer pipe to bring water to their community from a connection point at Springwell Road and Falconbridge Drive near Mt. Brydges, Ontario.
The Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System sends treated water from Lake Huron to 15 municipalities in an area the size of Prince Edward Island. The system serves parts of London, Middlesex Centre, Strathroy-Caradoc, Lucan-Biddulph, Grand Bend, and other places.
First Nations communities across the country are used to being told to boil their water.
During the 2015 election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to get rid of all long-term drinking water advisories on public water systems on First Nations reserves by 2021. However, he has not met this goal.