Parks Canada announces TSW Investment

On March 14, 2014 Parks Canada announced $58 million for capital projects related to the Trent-Severn Waterway (TSW) – click here.

In the reservoir lakes region, there is $3.5 million allocated for rebuilding or rehabilitating the Kennisis Lake dam. An additional $11.5 million is available across the entire system for unspecified projects that include dam safety and maintenance.

To put this in context, and lacking specific details of the TSW’s dam safety reviews, the Parks Canada Asset Review conducted in 2012 identified 15 reservoir dams as being in ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ condition with an estimated replacement value of $29.5 million and deferred work of $25 million. For the entire TSW system deferred work is estimated at $677 million.

While the Coalition is encouraged to see this new investment in TSW infrastructure, we remain concerned that the level of the investment does not reflect the scale of the problem. We also believe that greater transparency is required with regard to release of the results of the dam safety reviews.