The City of Portage la Prairie has narrowed down its list of candidates that will be tasked with leading the largest infrastructure project the City has ever embarked upon.

As part of a province-wide effort to reduce harmful algae blooms on Lake Winnipeg, a major upgrade to Portage's Water Pollution Control Facility, which carries a price tag projected at $172M, is required to meet new provincial and federal water quality standards.

“We expected robust interest in this project, but the quality of prospective proponents has exceeded expectations,” Portage la Prairie Mayor Irvine Ferris stated in a recently distributed press release. “Earning interest from proponents of this caliber at this early stage is vital to ensuring the project is done well. Our priority is ensuring the project is completed on time, on budget, and meets all the environmental requirements.”

Algae blooms can contaminate beaches, reduce water quality, damage Manitoba’s fishing and tourism industries, and pose a potential threat to human and animal health. The upgrade must reduce nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous that are discharged from the facility into the Assiniboine River. The next stage will invite the three pre-qualified proponents - Plenary/PCL Environmental Infrastructure, Portage Water Solutions (Sacyr/SNC Lavalin/Ledcor) and EPCOR Water Resource Partners - to submit comprehensive project proposals by late 2021.

Kelly Braden, who retired earlier this year as the City's Director of Operations after a career spanning over three decades, is the project manager for the facility upgrades and outlines what they will be looking for in these groups' proposals.

"Each of the proponents will provide the City with their proposed treatment process. Their solution to the problem, basically, and then the capital, the O&M (operations and maintenance), and any additional capital that they have to put in to renew the facility over a 30-year contract," he explains. "So we're asking them to provide all that - the preliminary design, travel costs and capital, and operating costs estimates for 30 years, and then we'll evaluate those proposals on that."

Braden adds that the project also involves significant upgrades to the rest of the water treatment plant, which has facilities that vary in age from just a few years to others that are between 30-40 years old.

Additional environmental benefits of the upgrade include reducing the need for chemicals, increasing energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and beneficial byproduct reuse.

“Beyond meeting the required nutrient reduction standards, we will ensure the upgrades also result in other benefits to our community -- including eliminating odor emissions, strengthening local economic activity during construction, supporting local trades, enhancing technical expertise during operation and implementing improved sustainable environmental practices in support of the agricultural sector,” the mayor added. “These upgrades will further enhance the City’s commitment to regional agriculture and business and create new jobs and maintain existing ones.”

Funding for the project is being provided through the Investing in Canada Plan and sees the Manitoba government kicking in $61M, while the Government of Canada and the City of Portage la Prairie are providing more than $60M and $51M, respectively. Construction is expected to begin in 2022 and be substantially completed by December 31, 2024.