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Nunavut ends state of emergency over water shortage in Iqaluit

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Lake Geraldine, Iqaluit\'s drinking water reservoir, nears historic minimum levels on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. The government of Nunavut is ending a state of emergency because Iqaluit has the approvals it needs to replenish its water reservoir. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dustin Patar

IQALUIT, Nunavut – The Nunavut government says it has ended a state of emergency intended to address a water shortage in Iqaluit.

The territory declared the emergency earlier this month to ensure its capital could get necessary regulatory approvals to begin replenishing its reservoir.

The city declared its own state of emergency a week earlier due to a lack of precipitation and flows into the Apex River, Iqaluit’s secondary water resupply source, being at a 40-year low.

As a result, Lake Geraldine, which serves as the reservoir for the city, would not be replenished before freeze-up.

Acting Minister of Community and Government Services Joanna Quassa says Iqaluit now has the necessary regulatory approval to begin pumping.

The city plans to pump additional water from the nearby Unnamed Lake into the Apex River then into Lake Geraldine.

The city says it will need to pump more than 500 million litres of water.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 30, 2022.

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