The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) is currently attempting to move forward with a $3.5 million Wilmer water system upgrade project.

“I don’t know the age of the (Wilmer) system, but they’ve had a boil water advisory, so there are some issues, like any system that has been in place for a while,” said RDEK chief administrative officer Lee-Ann Crane.

After it was decided in August that a proposed upgrade to the Dry Gulch water system would be too costly for the tiny community, the $1.8 million that had been provided for the project by the BC Community Water Improvement Program, a provincial grant program, had to be reallocated.

An RDEK proposal to the provincial government would see $1.3 million of those funds reallocated to the Wilmer water system upgrade project, while the remaining $500,000 would go towards the Spur Valley water system upgrade project. The RDEK is also looking at allocating $350,000 from the Community Works Fund Program to increase the total grant funding.

Currently, the RDEK is waiting on a response to their reallocation proposal from the provincial government before moving forward.

“They did not give us a timeline, we’re hopeful that we have an answer in the next couple of months,” Crane said. “It has been helpful that both of the projects to which we have asked to reallocate are located within the same electoral area.”