Rosser/Rockwood Wastewater Treatment Lagoon

"When I got in as reeve, it was my mission to get water and sewer into the municipality," said RM of Rosser Reeve Alice Bourgouin. Although it's not "mission accomplished" quite yet, Reeve Bourgouin is close, and she's getting more and more excited about it.

With funding now in place, the municipality is ready to call for tenders for the construction of a wastewater treatment lagoon, the municipality's first, and a gravity sewer system to service the community of Grosse Isle. The project is funded by MRIF, split three ways between the governments of Canada and Manitoba with the RM of Rosser and the RM of Rockwood splitting the third share equally.

"We have a fantastic relationship, the two of us," said the Reeve about the neighbouring municipality. "We share a number of things together."

One of the things shared, said the Reeve, is the community of Grosse Isle, which lies on the boundary of the two municipalities and falls in both.

"The RM of Rosser has never had water and sewer, so these projects are a huge benefit for the whole RM," said Reeve Bourgouin, explaining that the municipality is also involved in a separate project to bring in a regional water supply.

The sewer and lagoon are important for the whole municipality, but especially so for the residents of Grosse Isle. A large number of residents still use septic fields, an out-dated form of wastewater management. Some use septic tanks, but many of those are old and need to be replaced. The septic fields and leaky tanks put the groundwater at risk.

Reeve Bourgouin said the sewer and lagoon will play an important role in protecting the environment and fostering growth and development for the municipality.

"If you want to see your community and municipality prosper, you need to do something like this," said Reeve Bourgouin. "You can't have development without water and sewer."