A 1.5 million dollar lagoon upgrade in Elie's received three-way funding. An announcement this morning in the RM of Cartier chambers revealed the federal government's looking after 50%, with province and municipality sharing the other 50% equally. Reeve Dale Fossay calls the cost sharing a virtual lottery win for the municipality.

"It makes it affordable, for sure," says Fossay, "The lagoon is badly in need of repair, so it'll extend the life of the lagoon, hopefully by another one or two generations. It was not near capacity, but bringing it back to modern specs is certainly an asset."

Minister of Natural Resources Jim Carr spoke the federal government, and calls infrastructure the life blood of every community.

"Absolutely essential infrastructure," he says, "That will help create the conditions for economic growth, population growth, and Canada's very happy to be an active partner."

Provincial Minister of Municipal and Indigenous Relations Eileen Clarke adds the federal government's participation is huge for the province.

"Given we have a deficit situation," she says, noting "It brings what would normally be our one-third, down to 25%, so we can do more projects, and the list is lengthy."

Elie's in the Morris provincial constituency, and MLA Shannon Martin says the announcement emphasizes partnerships.

"People want to see their federal, provincial, and municipal governments working together on the projects that are important to them," he says, "And there are few projects that are less important than fresh, clean water."

AMM President Chris Goertzen adds they've been asking for partnerships with the senior levels of government for some time.

"We've seen certain examples of that over the last number of years," he acknowledges, "But this is a clear example where we have 26 different projects that are important to municipalities."

There are 25 other, similar funding announcments being made, for a 37.3 million dollar total. They include the RMs of Argyle, Fisher, Glenella-Lansdowne, West Interlake, Woodlands, and the town of Stonewall.