Behchokǫ̀ chief tries to persuade PM over frozen pipe funding

Behchokǫ̀’s chief is at the Liberal Party’s annual convention in Montreal to seek federal funding that will address frozen water pipes causing chaos back home.

Residents have described their frustration at months of disruption caused by a frozen water intake and blocked pipes connecting many of the community’s homes.

Water truck deliveries have had to be adjusted and some offices are operating off tanks rather than pipes.

Programming and work have been interrupted – the Kǫ̀ Gocho Sportsplex has lost weeks to closures sparked by loss of water supply, officials said – and now Behchokǫ̀’s spring carnival is being delayed because leaders aren’t confident hundreds of visitors can be accommodated without further straining a fragile system.

“It’s really impacting mental health, having no running water for weeks in some cases,” Chief Bertha Rabesca Zoe told Cabin Radio on Thursday.

The chief said a combination of factors made this winter particularly bad.

The NWT in general has dealt with an unusually cold winter, increasing the likelihood of frozen pipes. The pipes in Edzo, in particular – one of the distinct smaller communities that make up Behchokǫ̀ – are ageing, Zoe said, and a key water intake station at the nearby West Channel is “frozen solid,” a situation not helped by drought and low water levels.

“We’ve had a lot of busted pipes this year, more than usual,” Zoe said.

“We need to move on this right away … we don’t want to have to go through another winter like we’re experiencing this winter. It’s been almost every week that we’re impacted by frozen pipes.”

‘We should be given priority’

Zoe said she has already raised the problem with Prime Minister Mark Carney “very briefly, twice.”

Carney this week launched a $50-billion fund for infrastructure that has specific streams dedicated to projects that improve water supply. For example, one of the fund’s initial investments is just over $20 million toward a new water treatment plant for Hay River.

“We submitted a proposal last year to get funding to replace the piping system and get a new intake station for both communities,” said Zoe, referring to Edzo and Rae.

“I’m trying to be confident, but I’ve been lobbying for several months now – since becoming chief in June, and we’re entering into April. So it’s almost 10 months of lobbying and I haven’t heard anything yet.”

Zoe said the spring carnival, ordinarily held at roughly this time of year, had to be postponed because the community was in no shape to handle the extra people with its water infrastructure in disarray.

“It’s been happening so often that it creates public health issues,” she said of frozen pipes and related disruption.

During a well-attended hand games tournament earlier this year, Zoe said, the community realized how bad the situation could become. “The bathrooms weren’t running and pipes were frozen,” she said, and public works staff “were trying to work on that 24 hours a day, trying to figure out how to deal with that.”

With the carnival coming up, she said, “I think it’s best if we just postpone it for those safety and public health reasons.”

Zoe tied the community’s problems to the renewed funding expected to flow into some northern regions as the Department of National Defence ramps up its spending on Arctic sovereignty.

Yellowknife and Inuvik have each been told about $5 billion in investment driven by the military is coming to those areas in the next 15 years.

“We are the largest Indigenous community in the Northwest Territories with over 2,000 people. We should be given priority because of our unique situation,” said Zoe.

“We need to make sure those communities around Yellowknife benefit also from that $5 billion that was announced.”