Project Background

In the mid-2000’s, the City of Camrose completed its last major updates to the master planning documents for the City’s underground utilities (water distribution, sanitary sewer, stormwater).

These master plans serve multiple purposes, including identifying “bottlenecks” in the City’s existing utility networks, as well as forecasting the infrastructure needed to service future development areas of the City. The various utility master plans are also an integral component of the City’s Off-Site Levy (OSL) model and bylaw, which allocates a portion of the cost of completed or proposed infrastructure upgrades to future development areas that benefit directly or indirectly from the infrastructure.

Master plans should be reviewed and updated periodically. Starting in 2024, Administration has been working with Associated Engineering on a major update to the Water Distribution Master Plan, and with McElhanney on similar updates to the Sanitary Master Plan and the Stormwater Master Plan. Work on all three updates is now largely complete.

Key differences between the existing and proposed utility master plans

With respect to the anticipated servicing requirements for future development areas, the new utility master plans vary significantly from the prior master plans in several key areas:

Updated growth projections

• The prior utility master plans were developed with very optimistic projections for the future population growth for the City (3.5% annual growth for the first 5 years, and 2.5% annual growth thereafter).
• For the current master plan reviews, Administration instructed the respective project consultants to use a growth rate of 0.9% per year. This is consistent with the “medium growth scenario” identified in the City’s 2023-2048 Growth Study, as prepared by the project team of John Archer & Associates and GSA (Green Space Alliance).

Read the 2023-2048 Growth Study Here

Future growth areas / reduced study area

• Related to the above point, the prior utility master plans considered very large geographic study areas, including lands that extended well outside of the City boundaries (both as they existed at that time, as well as how they currently exist after the 2010 annexation).
• For the current reviews, Administration instructed the project consultants to only consider those lands that are located within the existing City boundaries, in addition to the Coordinated Service Area (CSA) lands that are identified in the City of Camrose / Camrose County Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP).

Read the Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) Here

As a result of these two key differences in project assumptions, particularly with respect to water and sanitary sewer servicing, the anticipated servicing requirements outlined in the new master plans are significantly scaled back from what was anticipated in the prior master plans. Specifically, the number of large diameter water transmission mains and sanitary trunk sewers is significantly less in the new master plans, as are the sizes of many of these water and sanitary pipes. This will result in significantly lower costs for servicing these new development areas, which will – in turn – reduce both the City’s share and the OSL’s share of the future pipe installations.

The above key differences in project assumptions have also resulted in a scaling back of some of the stormwater infrastructure required to service those future development areas, although to a much lesser extent than what is seen for water and sanitary. The new stormwater master plan still requires the construction of storm ponds with each new development to reduce the impact of increased runoff from development on the downstream stormwater system and/or receiving natural environment, as well as the construction of related downstream conveyance infrastructure (either storm pipes or ditches).

Consideration of self-serviced / reduced servicing requirements

One of the other key differences between the prior and the new utility master plans is the designation of self-serviced or reduced-servicing requirements for specific areas of the City, particularly with respect to water and sanitary servicing. For the prior water and sanitary studies, the master plans assumed that all lands within the study area would receive full municipal servicing. For the new water and sanitary master plans, a slightly different approach was used.

In March 2024 (prior to the start of the current master plan reviews), Administration met with City Council to conduct a land development workshop. At that workshop, Council and Administration discussed a number of topics, including an introduction to the concept of revisiting the servicing requirements for various areas around the City. At that time, Council was generally supportive of revisiting servicing options, from which Administration worked with Associated Engineering and McElhanney to review options for servicing requirements for future development areas.

The consultant for the sanitary master plan (McElhanney) considered the servicing requirements for all lands within the study area. However, given that the City generally drains from north to south and that the City’s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is located at the south end of the City, McElhanney determined that it was much easier and more cost effective to provide sanitary servicing to the lands near the south end of the City than for the those lands on the north end of the City. Given the interrelationship between sanitary and water servicing, Administration also asked the consultant for the water distribution master plan review (Associated Engineering - AE) to ensure that the two master plans had similar considerations with respect to servicing.

On their work on the stormwater master plan, McElhanney confirmed Administration’s expectation that stormwater servicing requirements for the new development areas does not generally depend on whether those lands had a reduced servicing requirement with respect to sanitary and/or water distribution.

At the April 20, 2026, Committee of the Whole Council meeting, City Council confirmed its prior direction to consider alternate servicing requirements for specific future development areas. At that time, City Council supported the recommendation from the current master plans to permit self-servicing / reduced servicing for water and sanitary sewer for specific future development lands in the City’s northeast, but to require full municipal servicing for all remaining areas within the City and the Camrose Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP). The City will be working with Camrose County to review this recommendation, and to discuss required changes to the IDP with respect to servicing requirements for the Coordinated Services Areas of the IDP.

Consultation with developers, landowners, and the general public

At the April 20, 2026, Committee of the Whole Council meeting, City Council directed Administration to invite residents, the local development community and Camrose County to provide input on the proposed utility master plans prior to bringing these master plans to a future Council meeting for formal approval. As the utility master plans are an integral component of the City’s OSL model and bylaw, the City is inviting input on the proposed utility master plans between now and mid-June. Depending on the feedback received, the City may revisit certain aspects or recommendations in the utility master plans. Alternately, City Council may decide to adopt the utility master plans in their current forms.