Last week, we told you about a joint effort between the cities of Morden and Winkler and the R.M. of Stanley to explore a temporary solution to Morden's wastewater processing capacity shortage.
At the same time, Morden is actively working on a long-term solution and has made an offer to purchase 300 acres of land within the R.M. of Roland, where it hopes to build a critical new lagoon.
"The reason we are going so far beyond Morden's borders is that we need clay land, and we also need setbacks," explained Mayor Nancy Penner. "We want to make sure the lagoon is far enough from existing yard sites."
However, the purchase is conditional on several things, including soil sample results.
"One thing Morden is very conscious of is the (Winkler) Aquifer, and we want to make sure there is enough clay," explained Penner. "So, right now, there's geotechnical drilling happening on that land and, depending on those test results, we will know our next steps (and) whether we proceed or not. The critical component of that is, do we have enough clay on that property to protect the aquifer?"
Those test results are expected in the coming weeks.
Should all go according to plan, the City intends to install a SAGR lagoon system at the site, similar to what Winkler currently has in place.
With files from Robyn Wiebe