Rose Prairie Water Station Plan

The Peace River Regional District (PRRD) is actively searching for a new water source for the Rose Prairie Water Station, one of five bulk water stations in Electoral Area B. The primary goal is to find a suitable water source. The PRRD has approved drilling a fourth well within the vicinity of the existing water station, to see if a suitable water source for treatment using the current Rose Prairie Water Station infrastructure can be located. The drilling work for the fourth well is scheduled for November 2025.

Background

The station was shut down in 2021 after hazardous gases, including hydrogen sulfide and methane were found in the well and water tanks. The gases could not be removed with the existing treatment system, leading the Regional Board to authorize the station's closure on March 11, 2021, citing safety concerns.

Since then, the PRRD has been trying to find a viable new water source. Of the three new test wells drilled in 2024, the first two wells were unsuitable, and while a third well looked promising, testing was inconclusive due to the collapsing of the subsurface layers prior to getting the well piping installed. As the third well is still able to be utilized as a required observation well, this has led to the recent recommendation to drill a fourth well 14m away from it.

Timeline

• February 13, 2025: The Electoral Area Directors Committee recommends a temporary halt on drilling a fourth well.
• March 6, 2025: The Regional Board agrees to defer drilling a fourth well until a community meeting is held and an online survey is conducted. The purpose of the meeting and survey is to gather public input on the next steps for the station.
• March 12 - April 2, 2025: An online survey is posted on the PRRD website.
• March 26, 2025: A community information meeting is held in Rose Prairie.
• April 17, 2025: A summary of the community meeting and survey results (link to board report) is shared with the Electoral Area Directors Committee. The committee defers deciding on the fourth well until the Area B Director can discuss options with Kelt Exploration and CNRL.
• May 8, 2025: The Electoral Area Directors Committee (EADC) recommends moving forward with drilling the fourth well.
• June 3, 2025: The EADC presents its recommendation (link to board report) to the Regional Board for consideration.
• September, 2025: The PRRD signs an agreement with the landowner to be able to drill an additional well.
• November/December, 2025: The PRRD will drill and test the fourth well to determine if a viable water source has been found in which the water could be treated using the existing treatment facility.

Public Feedback and Recommendations

The latest survey and community meeting were held in March 2025 to get feedback on three options for the water station:

1. Drill a fourth well near the location of a previous test well.
2. Upgrade the existing water station with new systems like aeration and carbon filtration, which is estimated to cost between $2.9 million and $4 million.
3. Decommission the existing station by removing it and reclaiming the land.

A total of 68 people responded to the survey. The results showed that most respondents supported drilling a new well:

• 48.5% (33 people) were in favour of drilling a fourth well. This was ranked as the top priority.
• 35.3% (24 people) were in favour of decommissioning the station. This was ranked as the second highest priority.
• 25% (17 people) were in favour of upgrading the existing station. This was ranked as the third-highest priority.

Additionally, when asked if they would use the station if it was successfully upgraded, over half of the respondents (55.9%) said they would.

Based on this feedback and discussions with Kelt Exploration and CNRL, the Electoral Area Directors Committee (EDAC) recommended that the Regional Board proceed with drilling a fourth well. The funding for this would come from the Electoral Area B Peace River Agreement Funds.