A potable drinking water servicing concept is illustrated on Map 12 – Potable Water Servicing Concept. The proposed servicing scheme would involve the construction of a new water supply line starting from the Capital Region Northeast Water Services Commission (CRNWSC) reservoir and pump station located in W4/Sturgeon Industrial Park and, connecting back into the existing line on Highway 643 near Degussa.  The CRNWSC reservoir and pump station facility will need to be upgraded as part of this initial phase of potable water servicing.  Phase 2 of the water servicing concept provides a loop to extend the network north to Twp Rd 570. All of the proposed projects can be serviced through this concept plan without any negative impact on existing customers.

A wastewater collection servicing concept is illustrated on Map 13 – Wastewater Servicing Concept.  The proposed servicing concept will require the extension of the 300 mm diameter forcemain north along Highway 643 to accept flows from Synenco’s Northern Lights project.  This will allow servicing of all current project proposals including the Sturgeon Upgrader by the Fort Hills Partnership and the Northwest Upgrader by Northwest Upgrading Inc.  A later phase extension is planned along Opal Road/Range Road 224.  The wastewater servicing concept conveys all flow to the Alberta Capital Region Wastewater Commission’s Wastewater Treatment Plant located to the south of the City of Fort Saskatchewan for treatment.

To ensure operating reliability, two significant upgrades to the existing pipeline are proposed: two pigging stations on the embankments of the Sturgeon River to ensure clear passage of flow through this inverted siphon section of the line and, an odour and corrosion control facility near the tie-in location of the forcemain to the existing gravity trunk sewer.

The Stormwater Management Concept for the Plan area is shown on Map 14.  The stormwater management plan focuses on preserving the current conditions.  Each industry will be required to collect and retain the runoff from their developed areas.  Discharge of this runoff is subject to both water quality control (mandated by Alberta Environment) and rate control (to be set by Sturgeon County).  The combination of these control policies will preserve the adequacy of existing infrastructure and, to maintain zero impact on the receiving streams. 

A Process Water Servicing Concept is illustrated on Map 15.  Process water is needed for all proposed projects.  The proposed servicing concept would provide a shared process water supply system in order to reduce environmental impacts and to increase the development potential of all industrially zoned lands.  As process water supply is not a traditional municipal service, the proposal endeavours to ensure that the County’s interests and the environment are considered by project proponents.  The current proposal is aimed at achieving two major objectives:

• Reduce environmental footprint on the North Saskatchewan River by reducing the number of individual intake structures.  By sharing common transmission pipelines, a comparable reduction should also result.
• Water withdraw management through storage reservoirs.  A series of storage reservoirs can help reduce water withdrawals when the North Saskatchewan River experiences low flows.  These reservoirs can be shared facilities or located on individual project sites.

It is proposed that gas, power and communications will be coordinated and extended as needed by the respective utility companies.  Sturgeon County has considered its utility easement needs in the context of regional linear utility corridor requirements.  The County has reserved some additional right-of-ways which will prove useful in accommodating some of the franchise utilities.