Latest news with #Puvirnituq
CBC
28-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Leaders across Nunavik want utilidors for water. Experts say it's not easy.
Social Sharing As Puvirnituq, Que., continues to grapple with its water shortage, officials are looking at permanent solutions to aging infrastructure across Nunavik. On Monday, a state of emergency was extended for another 10 days. In the past, leaders across Nunavik have called for utilidors to be installed in their communities. Those are corridors for providing utilities like water either underground or above ground. Hossein Shafeghati, the public works director at the Kativik Regional Government (KRG), said that's an avenue they've considered for many years, but there are two main barriers — money and permafrost. In 2019, a feasibility study for utilidors just in Kangiqsualujjuaq — an average-sized Nunavik village with a population of under 1,000 — estimated the cost to be $170 million. "With the inflation we have had in construction projects … if we were to start this year, it would probably be around $300 million," Shafeghati said. Most of Nunavik is covered in permafrost, a thick layer of soil where temperatures are below for at least two years, and that makes burying water pipes underground a challenge. Michel Allard, an emeritus professor with Laval University's geography department, has been studying permafrost thaw in Nunavik and Nunavut for decades. "It's not easy to dig in the permafrost," he said, adding that permafrost melt is a gradual process. Given the rising population over time, he said many Nunavik communities built water pumping stations near lakes to draw more water for delivery and sewage ponds to dump wastewater, in the absence of a utilidor system. "As the size of the community increases, water consumption increases as well," Allard said. "People feel the need now to have water from the tap. That means having pipes or buried pipes … to bring the water directly to the houses." Pipes in other Arctic communities In Nunavik, only Kuujjuarapik has a utilidor system. Shafeghati said that's because the village is built on sand, rather than permafrost and it's easy to excavate. "So the pipes are buried at a safe depth with a very low risk of freezing," Shafeghati said. "Incidents of freezing happen quite often, but that [happens] closer to the surface … and they have a municipal crew that is trained and equipped with the tools they need to address those freezing events rapidly." Further north in Nunavut where there is permafrost, partial piped systems exist in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Resolute Bay. Allard has studied the system in Iqaluit, which is also possible because of the community being largely built on sand. He also looks to other circumpolar countries like Alaska and Greenland for inspiration, which have pipes above ground too. "[In Greenland] they have utilidors, but they also have insulated and heated pipes that run on the surface … they build on hills, they build on bedrock, much more so than we do in Nunavik," he said. However, he said digging those ditches, and blasting that bedrock, can be costly and complex and he stressed that each community has its own geology to consider. 'There's nothing much left' Shafeghati said he's calculating budgets for some new projects, but "there's nothing much left" from provincial funding. "To put anything underground, it's not realistic with that kind of money," he said. He said in many municipalities across Canada, funding is distributed per capita. "That might sound fair, but it's not equitable, so it should be a needs-based system," he said. Quebec's Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière said he's not opposed to the idea of exploring utilidors in Nunavik, but he said he first wants to complete the post-mortem with local authorities into what has gone wrong in Puvirnituq. "I want to see the results of this complete review, because if there was a need for money … nothing was proposed to us. So let's look into it. If it is an issue with money, we're flexible," he said. He said there are several funding agreements on a yearly basis for all services in Nunavik amounting to roughly $800 million, and several agreements had funds unspent. Shafeghati believes utilidors in other parts of Nunavik are possible. In the meantime, he said he's looking at other avenues such as subsidized private-public partnership and improving the water trucking system. That includes working on boosting the workforce, currently dominated by men. "We will need more education … because this is very labour intensive. Or we should perhaps invest in housing to bring in workers from the outside because a lot of our villages have very, very young populations."
CBC
22-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Temporary pipe installed in Puvirnituq, Que., amid water emergency
Social Sharing Water is starting to flow through a temporary pipeline in Puvirnituq, Que., amid an ongoing water shortage in the community. Workers spent most of Wednesday unrolling a roughly three kilometre long flexible pipe that bypasses a section of the permanent pipe that froze mid-March. This critical corridor connects the water pumping station to the treatment plant. The blockage, coupled with hazardous weather conditions, has restricted water delivery across the community of 2,100 people and led to a state of emergency on Saturday. The situation has resulted in school closures, and some hospital patients to be sent south for care. Hilda Snowball, chairperson of the Kativik Regional Government (KRG), said on Wednesday that they've started filling up the water pumping station, though there's still ongoing work to clear the snow on the road to the station and sewage lagoon. "The temporary pipeline will fill up the water pumping station where the water trucks get their water from, so it will continue delivering water to each resident," she said. Truck drivers from neighbouring Inukjuak have also been helping out with deliveries. Puvirnituq mayor Lucy Qalingo says things are looking up for her community and she's hopeful the interim measures will be fully operational by Sunday. "Roads are thawing, the snow is thawing, the sun is shining," she said. Roughly 120,000 litres of water has been flown in, alongside sanitary products. Service points have been set up at the primary school and hospital. These are places places where people can access necessities, such as bottled water, sanitary products and disposable utensils. A dozen local Canadian Rangers have been activated to help distribute supplies. Those rangers were already helping out unofficially in the community prior to the federal emergency management minister approving that request. Though Snowball, the chairperson of the KRG, said the official deployment means the Canadian Rangers can alleviate some of the expenses of the relief efforts. Funding is 'peanuts' Deliveries of supplies will continue until the state of emergency is lifted, Snowball said. After that the focus will be on fixing the pipe that froze, which can't happen until summer. A heating wire, which prevents water from freezing during the winter, has reached the end of its life. "It was impossible to thaw the area where the pipeline froze, so there will have to be construction on the pipeline during the summer once the ground is unfrozen," Snowball said. Determining why the pipe froze will also be a priority for the Quebec government. In 2023, the KRG signed a five year deal with the Quebec government which provides $163 million for municipal infrastructure. While Snowball appreciates that funding, she said the amount is "peanuts" when it's spread across 14 Nunavik villages. She uses the example of the renovation of a childcare facility in another Nunavik village costing roughly $7 million. She said water infrastructure is particularly outdated in the region and there are three villages looking to do repairs on pipes. "They're now 15 to 20 year old infrastructure, which is why we are seeing a lot of damage with the pipelines," she said. "As well, the service trucks … before the pandemic we purchased trucks at about $300,000. Now they're at $600,000. It will require a lot of funding to really catch up." Ian Lafrenière, Quebec's minister responsible for relations with the First Nations and the Inuit, has reiterated his desire to conduct a post-mortem after the emergency phase is over, though he doesn't believe money is the issue. "I heard people talking about the lack of money and the funding in the last agreement that we gave KRG. There was still some money in the agreement that was leftover," he said.
CBC
20-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Still a long road ahead to fix water emergency in Puvirnituq, Que.
Social Sharing It's been all hands on deck to try and get water to homes in Puvirnituq, Nunavik, which has seen constant water service interruptions for more than two months. For Nellie Iqiquq, her partner and their four kids, it's been more than three weeks of difficulty accessing water in their home. Having grown up in the community of around 2,000 people, Iqiquq knows blizzards will often knock out water service, but, she says, it's the first time that it's been this bad. "I cannot give my kids a bath and shower, flush the toilet or do the dishes, or clean the house and do laundry," she says. The family has also needed to buy plastic plates and cutlery, and use a bucket toilet. A pipe that carries untreated water to a station about 2.5 kilometres outside of the community froze following a blizzard in mid-March. Since then another blizzard has caused additional issues by blowing snow over roads and freezing other pipes in the community. The lack of reliable water access has led to the community hospital running out of water, more people getting sick, including some in Iqiquq's family, and even hampered firefighting efforts. Over the weekend, officials declared a state of emergency. The length of the disruption has begun to weigh on Iqiquq and her family. "I'm really frustrated and angry that we don't get any services and we cannot do nothing about it," she said. On Monday, though, there was some light at the end of the tunnel when the water truck managed a delivery. "It's like the million-dollar truck, we were so happy," she said. Everyone was able to take a shower and do a bit of laundry, but Iqiquq says they're still very diligent about using water since the wastewater system is still frozen. Delayed deliveries Following the blizzards, more than four metres of snow have accumulated on certain parts of the road leading to the community's pump station. Workers have managed to clear a single lane barely wide enough for water trucks to come and go, but it's been very slow going. "We used to fill up our tank for 15 minutes in the closed pipe in town, but now we have to go for 45 minutes back and forth," said Aipilie Qumaluk, one of the drivers. To try and make as many deliveries as possible, Qumaluk and his colleagues start their shift at 6 a.m. "Sometimes we don't even take the time to eat breakfast," he said. The Kativik Regional Government has sent in a public works team, led by foreman Kevin Leblanc, to try and open the road further and accelerate the deliveries. Leblanc said the community's roads have essentially been unusable since the blizzards and rain, some even clogged with stuck vehicles. But things are starting to turn, he added. "We're starting to win the battle," he said. Two mechanics are part of the team to ensure any trucks that break down are fixed quickly to prevent any further delays to water deliveries — as long as the parts are already in the community. The public works crew will also be installing a temporary pipe system to try and bypass the frozen one. They hope to connect the water treatment plant and get it running again by Thursday, a first step toward a return to normal. Bottled water flown in Speaking to Radio-Canada's Midi info radio program, Ian Lafrenière, Quebec's minister responsible for relations with First Nations and Inuit, said 60,000 litres of bottled water had been flown into the community so far. He added that another delivery is scheduled for this week, but acknowledged that wouldn't solve the ongoing public health issues. According to Lafrenière, 27 people have been moved from the community's hospital and elders' residence as a precautionary measure. He explained that the community had been struck by a string of bad luck, but that other communities in the region are also facing similar challenges. "We're talking about Puvirnituq right now, but there's at least three other northern villages that are also struggling with getting water," he said. Once resolved, he said there should be a follow-up done with each community.
CBC
20-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
School year ends early in Puvirnituq, Que., amid state of emergency over water shortage
The school year has come to an early end in Puvirnituq, Que., due to continuing issues regarding access to drinking water, water delivery and waste water management in the northern community. In a news release on Monday, Kativik Ilisarniliriniq — the local school board — said that in the current context, it could not "ensure the continuity of educational services" and was gradually closing two of its schools, effective Tuesday. The board emphasized students would not be penalized and those needing to write end-of-year exams to get compulsory high school credits would be able to do so. The closures of Iguarsivik and Ikaarvik schools, attended by students in elementary and high school, comes after a fire broke out Saturday, exacerbating an existing water shortage and prompting the mayor to declare a state of emergency. No one was injured in the fire, but the blaze, which broke out at around 3 p.m. in the Inuit village of 2,100 people, was only put out at around midnight. Puvirnituq Mayor Lucy Qalingo said in a statement that firefighting efforts were hampered by blizzard conditions, strong winds and the area's very limited water supply. Access to water has been limited for two months, ever since a pipe that connects the pump station to the treatment plant froze in mid-March. That has forced the village to drive farther out of town to truck in water which then needs to be manually chlorinated, slowing the delivery of water. Difficult weather conditions, including slushy roads and a series of blizzards, have made the situation worse. In an interview with CBC News on Sunday, Qalingo described unsanitary living conditions stemming from water access issues. "There are homes, their toilets are filled with feces because we don't have any running water. And for those who are less fortunate, they're thirsty," she said. Local health facilities in Puvirnituq have also been affected, with more than two dozen people flown south from the hospital and a care home for seniors. The school board said essential staff remain present at the schools and teams have been working with municipal authorities to develop an emergency plan and "provide water access points" to residents. As for the upcoming school year, the board said additional resources will be put in place for students who need "catch-up instruction."
CBC
19-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Water crisis worsened by fire forces doctor to resign in northern Quebec
Water crisis worsened by fire forces doctor to resign in northern Quebec News Duration 9:55 In March, a major pipe connected to a pump station froze, causing a water crisis in the small village of Puvirnituq, Que., home to many Inuit. On Saturday, the village council declared a state of emergency after a weekend house fire. Dr. Marie-Faye Galarneau, a physician working in the village's hospital, explains what she has seen on the ground so far, and why it pushed her to resign.
