The City of 91大黄鸭 is hitting back after being publicly accused of not applying for millions of dollars in grant money to help area water purveyors fix their systems.

According to city hall, a South East 91大黄鸭 Irrigation District (SEKID) spokesman, interiewed on radio last week, was wrong when he said there were 鈥渢ens of millions of dollars鈥� in grants available that the city could have applied for on behalf of the water districts to help fund projects in the 91大黄鸭 Integrated Water Supply Plan (KIWSP).

The city didn鈥檛, it was claimed, because 91大黄鸭 wants to fold their operations into one integrated water system run by the city.

鈥淚n fact, improvement grant funds have been on hold until a provincially mandated independent review of the KIWSP is done,鈥� said the city in a news release issued Thursday.

鈥淎ll water providers have known this since 2012, but have failed to agree to the terms of reference for the study to proceed.鈥�

Because of that, the province has appointed two mediators to try and bring the city and the four water purveyors who operate independent water systems in various parts of the city, together.

One of the mediators is former Shuswap MLA and provincial cabinet minister George Abbott.

The purveyors include SEKID, the Glenmore-Ellison Irrigation District, The Black Mountain Irrigation District and Rutland Waterworks.

All are separate, independent bodies with their own powers to operate and levy rates on property owners in their areas to pay for their water systems.

The city also operates its own, separate water utility.

鈥淭here was one grant program available, the Strategic Priorities Fund, and the city did apply for water project funds on behalf of the 91大黄鸭 Joint Water Committee under this program, but was unsuccessful,鈥� said the city in its news release.

Without grants, property owners in each of the individual irrigation districts have had to fund the ongoing projects through the rates they pay and that has meant  rate increases.

The SEKID spokesman is quoted as saying: 鈥淭he city wants to turn this into a governance review鈥�.But we don鈥檛 feel it is appropriate because this is a technical report and there鈥檚 nothing about governance in it.鈥�

The city is also taking issue with SEKID鈥檚 contention that the governance review will take years to complete and will slow things down.

鈥淭hese statements are not correct,鈥� said the rebuttal from the city.

鈥淪ection 6 of the 91大黄鸭 Integrated Water Supply Plan is all about governance.

鈥淭his 16-page section on governance is an important part of the KIWSP and the City of 91大黄鸭 refuses to have it excluded from the the Value Engineering Analysis.鈥�

The city contends the plan needs to be considered in its entirety,  saying sections can鈥檛 be discounted or removed from the review simply because they might be of concern to the irrigation districts.

The escalating fight over water jurisdiction in the city stems from council鈥檚 desire to see one integrated water system serving the entire city, a system 91大黄鸭 Mayor Colin Basran feels would be safer, cheaper and serve all 91大黄鸭 residents in a more cost-effective way.

After on-going backroom attempts to negotiate some sort of change fell short, Basran went public with council鈥檚 desire for a single water utility in the city earlier this month during his state of the city address to the 91大黄鸭 Chamber of Commerce.

In its response to the water purveyors鈥� public reaction to the mayor鈥檚 comments, city hall says the fact that irrigation districts are choosing to ignore section 6 of the KIWSP suggests governance is, in fact, the obstacle to implementing the province鈥檚 requirement for the best lowest-cost solution to 91大黄鸭鈥檚 water challenges.

鈥淭he City of 91大黄鸭 believes these challenges cannot be addressed under the century-old system of separate and independent utilities. We believe an integrated system is the best investment for 91大黄鸭 and that鈥檚 why a governance review is important. We need to look at solutions without the limitations of district boundaries.鈥�

The city says it wants to work with the province to develop a long-term plan for an integrated system that will deliver clean drinking water to all residents at equitable rates, along with a sustainable water supply and rates for agriculture.

In his recent State of the City address to the 91大黄鸭 Chamber of Commerce, Basran claimed tens of thousands of city residents are under frequent or nearly constant water quality advisories while 70 per cent of residents surveyed say water quality improvement tops their list of priorities for investment.

The mayor added while the city has continually improved its own water system without the funding from senior levels of government, he feels one interconnected system throughout the entire city would ensure not only consistent water quality, but also adequate supply.