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The Town of Virden is suing the Manitoba government and an engineering firm after a four-year-old $3-million water system was abandoned in 2025 due to low water levels.<\/p>\n
The town names the government of Manitoba as the representative of the Manitoba Water Services Board, the engineering firm W.L. Gibbons and Associates and professional engineer and geoscientist Stephen Wiecek in the lawsuit filed in the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench on Feb. 18.<\/p>\n
The town of about 3,000 people in western Manitoba switched to a different aquifer for its water supply in 2021, after the previous water source was found to have arsenic levels above drinking water guidelines.<\/p>\n
The cost of the project was to be split evenly between the town and the Manitoba Water Services Board, a Crown corporation involved in the provision of water and sewage facilities in rural Manitoba, the statement of claim says.<\/p>\n
The switch to a different aquifer was based on a report from engineering firm W.L. Gibbons and Associates, the claim says.<\/p>\n
The Manitoba Water Services Board was to manage the project, overseeing engineering and other technical work, doing inspections and ensuring the new water system was properly completed, the court document says.<\/p>\n
The new water system started operating in 2021, but in October 2025, the town issued an emergency response notice, urgently asking people to conserve water.<\/p>\n
“This failure resulted in the town’s water supply reaching critically low levels, placing the community at imminent risk of running out of water, causing a municipal water emergency,” the lawsuit says. <\/p>\n
A third-party hydrogeological engineer hired by the Water Services Board concluded the new aquifer didn’t hold enough water and should not have become the town water source, the statement of claim says.<\/p>\n
As a result, the town returned to the old water source, despite arsenic levels exceeding the Canadian drinking water guideline.<\/p>\n
“Council continues to be concerned about the ongoing water quality and water levels, as well as the costs incurred by the town for infrastructure that, in the opinion of the town, is no longer being utilized for the purposes of which it was installed,” a statement from the Town of Virden said.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.<\/p>\n
The allegations have not been tested in court and the defendants have not filed defence statements.<\/p>\n
CBC reached out to the province and the engineer for comment on the lawsuit but did not get a response.<\/p>\n
The town is working with the province and contractors to bring its water into compliance with the Canadian Drinking Water Standards, the town said.<\/p>\n