The Government of Saskatchewan announced on Wednesday that it is investing nearly $1 million into water and wastewater system upgrades in three provincial parks: Moose Mountain, Cypress Hills and Good Spirit Lake.
These upgrades will help to meet the increased demand for services in these parks.
“Our provincial parks continue to have increasing levels of visitation every year,” Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Mark Docherty said. “Projects like these provide important infrastructure to support those visits and continue to provide high quality visitor experiences.”
The main sewage lift station at Moose Mountain Provincial Park will receive significant upgrades. The pumping, ventilation, electrical and mechanical systems will be upgraded to ensure the safe and reliable disposal of sewage.
At Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, the sewage lagoon will be upgraded and expanded. The current lagoon is undersized for the park and this project will improve the integrity and capacity of the wastewater disposal system.
The project at Good Spirit Lake will upgrade the park’s water treatment plant. This project will improve the visitor experience at Good Spirit Lake, as visitors have access to a safe, reliable drinking water supply.
Work on all three projects will begin early this fall and are scheduled to be substantially completed prior to the opening of the 2017 parks season.
In 2015, the Government of Saskatchewan met its commitment of investing an additional $10 million over four years into the provincial park system, for a total investment of $53 million in capital projects and maintenance over that four year time frame.
Projects undertaken during this commitment include the development of two new campgrounds, upgrading or replacement of service centres, extensive campsite electrical expansion and upgrading water and wastewater systems, new and enhanced boat launches, and new campsite furnishings.
Total funding for the provincial parks system since 2007 is more than $200 million. This funding includes capital expenditures and investment, operational funding, and parks programming.
New programs are being offered in provincial parks such as the Learn to Camp program, Learn to Fish program, and the Cultural Access Pass, which provides newcomers free entry to day-use areas within parks.
