{"id":598692,"date":"2026-04-12T07:49:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T07:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/598692\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T07:49:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T07:49:19","slug":"metro-vancouver-celebrates-new-drinking-water-infrastructure-in-surrey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/598692\/","title":{"rendered":"Metro Vancouver celebrates new drinking water infrastructure in Surrey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Mike Hurley
\nPhoto submitted <\/p>\n

METRO Vancouver announced on Friday that it has finished work on the Fleetwood Reservoir a key piece of drinking water infrastructure in Surrey that will help ensure the continued supply of high-quality drinking water to growing communities south of the Fraser.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0reservoir<\/a>, located at Meagan Anne MacDougall Park, also features a new mural by q\u0313\u02b7\u0251:n\u0313\u019b\u0313\u0259n\u0313 (Kwantlen First Nation) and N\u026ce\u0294kepmx (Shackan First Nation) artist Elinor Atkins, celebrating the importance and power of water, conservation, and the sustainable paths being created for future generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Fleetwood Reservoir is a great example of how careful planning and thoughtful design \u2014 along with collaboration with our member municipalities, community partners, and local First Nations \u2014 can deliver necessary infrastructure on time and under budget,\u201d said Mike Hurley, Chair of Metro Vancouver\u2019s Boards of Directors. \u201cThe incredible mural by Elinor Atkins and the improved park space have made this reservoir both functional and beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

In-system reservoirs are an important part of the regional drinking water delivery system, which serves three million people. Metro Vancouver collects and stores rainfall and snowmelt in three reservoirs located in the Capilano, Seymour, and Coquitlam water supply areas. The water goes through two treatment plants to ensure it meets rigorous drinking water quality standards, and then travels to these in-system reservoirs via Metro Vancouver\u2019s network of water mains.<\/p>\n

The Fleetwood Reservoir, which can hold 13.6 million litres of water, is connected to a new Metro Vancouver valve chamber and water main, as well as the City of Surrey\u2019s Fleetwood Pump Station, which will send water through the municipal system to people\u2019s taps. The project was completed for $60 million, approximately $1 million under the approved budget.<\/p>\n

Adorning the reservoir maintenance building is a spectacular glass mural by Atkins, whose traditional name Mim\u0259wq\u03b8el\u0259t means \u201cthe first bird to sing in the morning.\u201d Her work, characterized by vibrant colours and forms inspired by plants and wildlife, combines traditional Salish designs with contemporary elements.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating this work at Meagan Anne MacDougall Park was a meaningful collaboration with q\u0301\u02b7\u0251:n\u0301\u019b\u0313\u0259n\u0301 and Metro Vancouver. I\u2019m grateful to help weave culture and community into infrastructure that serves so many,\u201d said Atkins.<\/p>\n

In the centre of the design is a water droplet surrounded by two hands, honouring and thanking three mountains for providing water to the region. Within the mountains there are salmon, representing q\u0313\u02b7\u0251:n\u0313\u019b\u0313\u0259n\u0313, on whose traditional territory the Fleetwood Reservoir was built. Trigon figures represent past and future generations, while salmonberries represent growth and harvest. Atkins added cedar to purify the space for those viewing her art.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was important for us to make sure that this infrastructure fit seamlessly into the community while performing the critical task of storing drinking water for high-use times as the city and region grow,\u201d said Brad West, Chair of Metro Vancouver\u2019s Water Committee.<\/p>\n

As part of the project, Metro Vancouver restored Meagan Anne MacDougall Park for the local community. This includes planting twice as many trees as were removed, adding benches, and planting over 2,000 diverse shrubs, grasses, and groundcover plants. The new green area will provide year-round habitat for birds and butterflies. Cultural recognition and interpretive signage was installed to tell park users about the artist and artwork, as well as the drinking water system and conservation. The City of Surrey will also design and install a new playground.<\/p>\n

Metro Vancouver ensures more than three million residents have safe, high-quality drinking water every day. Working with member jurisdictions, Metro Vancouver manages a regional system of protected water supply areas, dams, treatment facilities, reservoirs, pump stations, and water mains to keep drinking water flowing reliably throughout the region.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike Hurley Photo submitted METRO Vancouver announced on Friday that it has finished work on the Fleetwood Reservoir…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[879,49,48,226940,65672,87674,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-598692","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-surrey","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-fleetwood-reservoir","12":"tag-metro-vancouver","13":"tag-surrey","14":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}