The Village of Elgin has been struggling with low water pressure for over a month due to a significant number of underground leaks.  The Municipality of Grassland has now declared a State of Emergency for the town located about 70km south of Brandon, as they try to find the source of the leaks.  The problem is that there are many leaks and they’re difficult to find as the water is being absorbed sideways through the cracks in the pipes instead of up where its visible.

MLA for Turtle Mountain, Doyle Piwniuk, says there is access to funding to help communities in situations where the supply water has been an issue.  “We’ll do everything possible to make sure they get their water and then at the same time we are looking at possibly working together and opening up possibilities of grants to look at all levels of government, to make sure there is  long-term solution for the water issue in Elgin.”

“We’ve got some equipment to try and find where that break is. That’s always a challenge when you’re looking at winter as well, and our temperatures over the past 2 weeks didn’t help either,” shares Piwniuk.  “Those are the things that we’re working on to ensure that the residents of Elgin get access to water and good quality water, and we might just have to bring water in as a province, too.”

The province issued a boil-water advisory for the community earlier this week, which will remain in effect until the water supplied by the current water system no longer presents a health risk.  Piwniuk says they recognize the village of Elgin needs a short-term fix as well as a long-term fix.

“We want to make sure our whole constituency is looked after,” he adds.  “I know with the Infrastructure Canada Grant we’re going to try and get more of these types of long-term solutions taken care of, like I know Boissevain is looking at a new lagoon and we’re trying to get that approved.”

“Again, these municipalities have applied and right now we’re waiting for the Federal Government for approval for a lot of these projects that are in the constituency of Turtle Mountain.”