Quick fix for Gjoa water supply

Gjoa Haven’s water woes have been solved, says the hamlet’s senior administrative officer.
The berm that supported the community’s water reservoir burst on Oct. 9, causing most of their fresh water to spill into the ocean. Residents cut back on water consumption while hamlet officials weighed their options.

The community now draws its water from Swann Lake, which is larger than their original reservoir, but farther from town. Plans already existed to switch over to the larger lake. An intake pipe was installed this summer, although it isn’t yet connected with a trailer that will pump the water to a nearby treatment plant.

So right now water is hauled directly from the lake into trucks, where chlorine is mixed into the tank.

“Right now it’s pretty well solved,” said Raymond Kamookak, the hamlet’s senior administrative officer.

The hamlet also had to overcome another obstacle: the road between the lake and the community now needs to be kept clear for water trucks, and their snow clearing equipment had broken down.

As of last week, the loader and snowplough were scheduled to be fixed soon, Kamookak said, and they were awaiting the arrival of a new bulldozer on a Hercules aircraft, which had been delayed because of foul weather.

In fact, the burst reservoir helped speed repairs to their neglected equipment. Still, watching the community’s water supply drain into the ocean isn’t a fate Kamookak wishes on hamlet officials in other communities.

The longer road to their water source will also mean more maintenance work on trucks and snow clearing equipment in the future, and higher driving costs.

But everybody’s happy with the taste of the new lake water, Kamookak said.