City of Iqaluit prepares to start replenishing Lake Geraldine
Pumping from Apex River could begin as early as next month
Iqaluit’s Lake Geraldine reservoir, pictured here on Oct. 5, sits full after emergency pumping from the Unnamed Lake and the Apex River concluded last fall. (File photo)
The City of Iqaluit is poised to start replenishing the Lake Geraldine reservoir as early as next month according to a report presented to city councillors on Tuesday afternoon.
This measure comes as a departure from years past, when pumping from the Apex River, as well as the Unnamed Lake last year, began later in the summer after a state of emergency had been declared.
“Pumping can commence during the spring freshet, when melt occurs, this year and in subsequent years,” said chief administrative officer Amy Elgersma.
This is because last fall the Nunavut Water Board approved an amendment to the city’s current water licence allowing the city to pump 500,000 cubic metres seasonally from the Apex River to Lake Geraldine until 2026, when the licence expires.
With the amendment in effect as of April 1, the city’s plan is to fill the reservoir during the spring, monitor levels throughout the summer and resume pumping in the fall, ensuring the reservoir is full by winter.
But, before pumping can begin, the amendment requires that the city submit to the Nunavut Water Board a water balance assessment, to indicate how much water will be pumped to supplement the reservoir.
The city also continues to monitor water usage, aiming for a target of 2,800 cubic meters per day, the equivalent of roughly 17,600 bathtubs full of water.
According to Elgersma, the city hit this target in November and December, but since then has gone over. In part, that’s due to water pipe leaks, and in part it’s due to bleeds, when water is purposely released in areas of low flow or where there is a risk of freezing.
Water usage was also up in March due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the increase in the city’s water use, Lake Geraldine’s water levels as of April 14 are still slightly higher than they were for the same date in the past two years.
The city has issued a tender for the pumping project, which closes on April 16, and a request for proposals was issued for a consultant to produce the water balance assessment, which closes on April 28.
As well, a pre-feasibility study that assesses the city’s future water storage options is underway.
capital of Nunavut is getting too big and over populated in an area that has limited amount of essential resource wich is water, sacred water that we often take for granted, this should be a reminder for all of us that we live in a desert type of climate on top of huge rocks and sands that can easily dry out
We have a river that never runs out……
Yes we have a river that is valuable Char habitat, that has never had water extracted from it before and that is an important part of the community. We have no idea what extracting water will do to it or the lakes that supply it so let’s study this before deciding to pump hundreds of thousands of gallons of water out of it. To say that it will never run out is premature.
They really should do the study because we cannot keep depending on the Apex river and the unnamed lake. Spring melt and summer melt can only last so long. Something needs to be done, calling a public health emergency to by pass the water board to “replenish” lake Geraldine is not very economical for City of Iqaluit to dust off the problem for the foreseeable future. The city really needs to start thinking long term. Maybe the mayor should start getting off social media and start doing his real change is here slogan. Put in the work Mayor Bell, i’m sure you are. But the real change is not continuing the last administration’s “quick fix” attitude to shut us up.