A spokesperson for our province says it was not their decision to close the bulk-fill water station in Woodridge.
According to our province, the Woodridge Community Club previously operated a bulk-fill station at the community hall site. It says the station was closed in June 2024.
Elliott Brown is Assistant Deputy Minister of Ecosystem Management, Agriculture and Resource Development. He explains that before its closure, the semi-public water system was inspected, and some items were identified to bring the system into compliance with its licensed conditions. Brown says meetings took place regarding the bulk-fill facility.
"Following those discussions, including a discussion about the availability of compliance planning, the Community Club opted to cease providing public access to the bulk-fill there," he adds.
Brown emphasizes that the decision to close was not made by the province.
"That's correct," he says. "We've provided no direction to close any water facility in the RM of Piney, including the Woodridge bulk-fill, nor do we generally provide that kind of guidance."
Rather, Brown explains that the province will help systems come into compliance with their license conditions, helping operators find ways to do that.
Residents of the RM of Piney have voiced concern this summer over the fact that the Woodridge bulk-fill station is still closed, and more recently the Piney pail-fill station was closed temporarily. The station in Piney reopened on August 1st.
According to Brown, the two systems were closed for different reasons.
"The Woodridge Community Club followed a discussion about some needed equipment improvements there," he explains. "The decision at the Piney Fire Base pail-fill was more a result of some operational considerations."
Our province says that while these operational challenges persist, the decision was taken to re-open the site while efforts continue to find a sustainable operational arrangement for the pail-fill.
As for the station in Woodridge, Brown says any decision to reopen it is up to the Woodridge Community Club.
"We are available to talk to them about what compliance with license, would look like," he says. "We offer a process that gives systems the opportunity to continue to provide service, keeps people safe by taking mitigative measures and to bring their systems into compliance over time. And that process remains fully available to Woodridge as we've indicated throughout our discussions with them."
Regarding the Piney community well, La Verendrye MLA Konrad Narth has indicated that residents were outraged that it was closed without warning. According to Brown, alerting the public would not have been the responsibility of the province.
"It would have come from the operator of the system," he clarifies. "In this case, because we didn't give direction to anyone to close the Piney Fire Base system, that operator would have provided that notice if necessary."
Brown says our province understands how local residents in Woodridge are interested in having water access available, as it has been historically. He notes they are ready to continue discussions with the RM of Piney or the Woodridge Community Club about options that are available to them.
"(We) look forward to having those discussions," he says.
We attempted to reach out to the RM of Piney for comment but have not heard back.
Meanwhile, according to Brown, the requirement for disinfection applies to bulk-fill stations. He notes 93 bulk-fill stations are licensed in Manitoba. And he notes fewer than a handful are currently not meeting the disinfection requirement.