A massive funding announcement was made Thursday morning in Niverville.

After more than two and a half years of lobbying, four municipalities in southeastern Manitoba have been promised both provincial and federal funding in order to build a wastewater treatment facility and conveyance system.

Federal Labour, Consumer Protection and Government Services Minister Reg Helwer made the joint funding announcement, benefiting the town of Niverville and Rural Municipalities of Hanover, Ritchot and Tache. 

It is a $110 million project, with $21 million coming from the federal government, $18 million coming from our provincial government and the remaining $71 million coming from the four municipalities.

"Thank you all for those contributions, we know that your ratepayers will be bearing the big part of this project, but we're pleased to be part of it," notes Helwer.

He adds moving to a regional mechanical treatment process will also eliminate pressure on future individual infrastructure requests for lagoon expansion and renewals. 

"In other words, we are protecting the farmland of the region for farmers, producers and agricultural production," says Helwer.

Helwer says green infrastructure investments like this one will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and advance Manitoba's climate and green plan to meet international climate change targets and create a greener province for all of us. 

The project will include the installation of a wastewater conveyance system with approximately 90 kilometres of effluent pipeline as well as new lift stations and pump stations. These installations will service communities in southeastern Manitoba with a current population of over 30,000 people and a capacity for growth to over 70,000 people, with the ability to expand and bring on more municipalities.

Hanover Reeve Stan Toews welcomes today's announcement, noting this project will save $60 million in future costs for expanded lagoons. He adds it will attract $1.9 billion in new capital investment and add 3,400 new jobs over the next decade. Toews says this will reduce the southeast region's CO2 emissions from over 3,200 metric tonnes to 23 metric tonnes.