More infrastructure money for Ottawa river not coming soon

Fiscal belt-tightening at both the provincial and federal levels of government have put funding of the city's plan to stop sewage spills into the Ottawa river on hold.

Mayor Jim Watson has identified the $2.1-billion light rail project and the $250 million Ottawa River Action Plan as the city's two infrastructure priorities.

Both rely on funding from upper levels of government, and while the LRT money has been secured, only a potion of the river project's funds have been paid — about $33 million each from the province and the federal government. 

"We've got funding for the first two phases," said Watson, who was at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario annual conference in Ottawa Monday.

"But we need the federal and provincial goverment for the final stages to eliminate raw sewage spills into the Ottawa River," he said.

Holding tanks needed to stop sewage overflow

The city said it needs $250 million to build the massive holding tanks designed to stop sewage from flowing into the river during heavy storms.

Speaking at the conference Monday, the province's infrastructure minister Bob Chiarelli said his government will commit more money when the federal government does.

"We are waiting to partner with the federal government, and we're waiting for them to come to the table," said Chiarelli.

Premier Dalton McGuinty was doing his best to manage expectations at the conference, saying continuing global economic uncertainty has impacted large-scale spending. 

"We can't roll out the same kind of investments that we made in the past," said McGuinty.

Foreign Affairs minister John Baird has suggested if the city wants money for the river cleanup sooner, it can borrow from the money it has earmarked for the LRT.

The next round of federal infrastructure spending won't be announced until 2014.