The Lund Waterworks District is a Water Improvement District servicing the residents of Lund, B.C. and is currently in receivership. The qathet Regional District has no financial affiliations with the Lund Waterworks District and does not have any part in operating this system or service. This page is being provided strictly as an information sharing tool to support the Lund Waterworks District and the service users in the Lund area.
Materials from the meetings are available below:
The qathet Regional District and Lund Waterworks District recently completed an engineering assessment of the Lund Waterworks District system infrastructure. The goal of this assessment is to accurately determine the costs and scope of work required to bring the Lund Waterworks District system into compliance with required regulations to provide safe, reliable, secure, quality, and healthy potable drinking water. This assessment is being published to provide ratepayers with a realistic cost estimate for upgrading and maintaining the Lund Waterworks District system.
The assessment also provided the qathet Regional District with a clear understanding of the Lund Waterworks District’s current state of affairs, costs and liabilities should the qathet Regional District opt to convert the Lund Waterworks District service to a Regional District service. For more information on Improvement District conversion, please visit the Province of British Columbia website.
Contacts
Questions regarding the Engineering Report or Lund Waterworks District Open House can be directed to:
Frances Ladret, Receiver, Lund Waterworks District
Mail: PO Box 113, Lund, BC, V0N 2G0
Phone: 604-935-9555
Email: lundwaterdistrict@gmail.com
Questions relating to the qathet Regional District’s involvement can be directed to:
Al Radke, Chief Administrative Officer, qathet Regional District
Mail: #202 – 4675 Marine Avenue, Powell River, BC V8A 2L2
Phone: 604-485-2260
Email: administration@qathet.ca
Background
The Lund Waterworks District System is in need of substantial infrastructure upgrades. The Lund Waterworks District has not had a quorum of Trustees since December 2020. On February 23, 2022, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs appointed a receiver to the Lund Waterworks District, Tom Day. Mr. Day provided an introduction letter explaining his role and desired service delivery outcomes for the Lund Waterworks District. On October 23, 2023, the Province rescinded Tom Day’s appointment and appointed Frances Ladret as the new Lund Waterworks Receiver.
The qathet Regional District worked closely with the Lund Waterworks District in 2019 to submit a grant application to fully fund infrastructure upgrades. This application was unsuccessful. In January of 2022, Deputy Minister Tara Faganello encouraged the qathet Regional District to submit an application for the final intake of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program – Environmental Quality Program. The qathet Regional District submitted a grant application for funding support, on behalf of the Lund Waterworks District, and later updated the application to include the engineering assessment and the qRD’s position regarding the restoration of the Lund Waterworks District.
The qathet Regional District does not have a service establishing bylaw in place to own or operate the Lund Waterworks System nor did it have jurisdiction over it as part this grant stream. If successful in the application, the public should be aware that grant funding will not fully cover the costs of the Lund Waterworks District upgrade. The remaining costs will need to be covered by Lund Waterworks District ratepayers.
qRD Staff Reports Concerning the Lund Waterworks District
Improvement Districts
Improvement Districts are independently governed and operated services, run on an individual basis by primarily volunteer run organizations. Improvement Districts are not managed by municipalities or regional districts. These organizations were established by the Province of British Columbia and empowered to carry out the necessary administration and operation of small vital community services ranging from fire protective services to water. Improvement Districts providing water have their systems tested by Vancouver Coastal Health and may be subject to further testing by the improvement district operator.
To learn more about Improvement Districts, please visit the Province of British Columbia website.