As the official provincial budget was read last week, there was plenty of question marks surrounding the Notley NDPs in how they were going to spend the province's money next year, but it could be great news for Okotoks.

The Town of Okotoks has been working diligently in trying to bring in more water to the town from Calgary in a proposed pipeline that has been deemed "shovel ready" for the project.

Mayor Bill Robertson says with $170 million put aside for "Water For Life" initiatives, the Town's plan may no longer be a pipe dream.

"The Okotoks potable water pipeline that we're planning for right now and attempting to build coming from Calgary to Okotoks could perhaps be sized to service the region as other communities water needs come in and we would be able to tap into that to get funding," he says.

Robertson says, plain and simple, the Town needs more water if they intend to grow even further in the future.

"Our backs are against the wall in terms of potable water," he says. "We only have water for only a few thousand more people and then we're out of water for new growth. Of course, there's plenty of water for people who already live here, but as for new growth, we would be out."

Robertson hopes with meetings earlier this year on the pipeline with provincial ministers and the shovel ready approach, Okotoks will be one of the towns on the NDP's list to get funding for the pipeline.

"We have our application in to the appropriate department for funding and we'll be looking forward and likely requesting meeting with the appropriate minister or ministers in order to get approval for this project."

Robertson says the total cost of the project is still unknown until it gets to a tendering process, but could cost around $30-35 million.

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