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CBC reported that a fire inside the Yellow Quill First Nation, Saskatchewan, water treatment plant on January 30 has rendered it inoperable. Experts were called in to see if the existing system could be revived. Otherwise, the band was preparing options to supply water to residents. In the interim, a booster station at the south end of the reserve was supplying water to the southern part of the community with hope that water would become available to all homes. Band leaders were to meet on January 30 to assess options and the results were to be available on January 31.
Source article - CBC, January 30, 2010

On February 2, the governments of Canada and Ontario announced a joint investment of $32 million toward the construction of a new wastewater treatment facility in Kirkland Lake. The new facility will provide advanced treatment of wastewater, an ultraviolet disinfection system and systems to treat and manage sludge. The new wastewater treatment facility will support improved water quality in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin, which includes Murdock Creek and the Blanche River. Design of the new wastewater treatment facility will begin this year. Construction is expected to begin in 2011 and to be completed by 2012.
Source article – Government of Ontario, February 3, 2010

The Telegram reported that on January 31, the Government of Canada announced funding of $13.8 million from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s Atlantic Innovation Fund for research and development projects in Newfoundland and Labrador. The funding includes an estimated $5.3 million for C-CORE, which is an integrity and security of critical infrastructure project. This project will combine three existing technologies to create a unique space-ground-subsurface method of monitoring critical infrastructure for structural stability and security. C-CORE will partner with the Memorial University of Newfoundland, University of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia Community College Centre for Geographic Sciences, Defence Research and Development Canada and the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment to advance satellite and associated technologies to monitor the integrity of Canada’s critical infrastructure and provide predictive analysis. Another project, estimated to cost $2.4 million, has been designated to develop a unique net available power forecasting service that will provide forecasts of actual power supplied by a wind farm to the local energy grid. 
Source article – The Telegram, January 31, 2010
Source article – The Telegram, February 1, 2010

On February 3, the governments of Canada and Quebec announced a financial contribution of $1,381,530 to the municipality of Saint-Gédéon to consolidate its network of water distribution and wastewater collection systems, and $2,376,870 to the municipality of L’Ascension-de-Notre-Seigneur to consolidate its distribution network of drinking water and water waste collection systems. The funding is made available through the federal-provincial agreement of the Pipeline Renewal Program (PRECO). PRECO is a program that enables Quebec municipalities to carry out rehabilitation work or replace water mains and sewage systems.  
Source article – Government of Quebec, February 3, 2010
Source article – Government of Quebec, February 3, 2010

  I would like to welcome the County of Lethbridge as the newest member of AbWARN.  As our membership grows we can more effectively draw from the knowledge and resources of each other and have a more resilient water sector.  Welcome!

On January 14, Public Safety Canada’s Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) released advisory AV10-005 to bring attention to multiple critical vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader 9.2 and Acrobat 9.2 for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX, and Adobe Reader 8.1.7 and Acrobat 8.1.7 for Windows and Macintosh. Adobe categorizes this as a critical update. CCIRC recommends that administrators identify affected products, test and deploy the provided updates according to their Release Management practices at the earliest opportunity.
Source article - Public Safety Canada, January 14, 2010

Further to Daily Infrastructure Report DIR10-008, later on January 12, CTV reported that the flood danger appeared to have passed for communities on Vancouver Island hit by a rain and melting snow. The B.C. River Forecast Centre downgraded the flood warnings for the Courtenay, Comox, Nanaimo and Campbell River areas to high streamflow advisories. The levels for several rivers, including the Puntledge, Browns and Tsolum rivers, were falling. There was some localized flooding and several roads were closed.
Source article – CTV, January 12, 2010
Source article – B.C. River Forecast Centre, January 12, 2010

On January 13, Public Safety Canada’s Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) released advisory AV10-004 to bring attention to a critical patch update for Oracle products. The vendor “strongly recommends that customers apply CPU fixes as soon as possible” due to the threat posed by a successful attack. CCIRC recommends that administrators identify affected products, assess the need to update and identify potential dependencies.
Source article - Public Safety Canada, January 13, 2010

CTV reported that the Mayor of Courtenay, B.C., declared a state of emergency late on January 11 due to flooding of the Browns, Tsolum and Puntledge rivers on Vancouver Island. The area was pounded with heavy rains on January 11 from a tropical weather system originating from Hawaii that hit Canada’s west coast. A total of 43 people were evacuated from the Maple Pool Campsite on January 11, and some residents in the low level area had little mobility. Evacuees registered at the city’s emergency reception centre and, as part of the Provincial Emergency Program (PEP), they will remain in local hotels until they are allowed to return home. Some roads closed by the flooding have reopened, yet many areas are expected to remain shut down for at least another day. The declaration may be in place for up to seven days since unseasonably warm temperatures and heavy rains have melted high altitude snow packs, resulting in more water into the already high levels. Environment Canada ended its rainfall warning for Vancouver Island on January 12, predicting only light and scattered rains for January 13 and 14.
Source article - CTV, January 12, 2010

On January 12, the Government of Canada, the Government of New Brunswick and the City of Fredericton announced that the water and wastewater systems in Fredericton will receive $1.4 million in upgrades through a federal-provincial-city project. The Government of Canada is contributing $470,601 under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, with matching contributions from the province and the city. The project will involve work on a drinking water distribution main and will improve wastewater maintenance.
Source article – The Government of New Brunswick, January 12, 2010