With the provincial government approving the annexation of 4,900 acres (1,950 hectares) of land surrounding Okotoks recently, Town Council is continuing to look for ways to service future growth with water.

Work has been ongoing since 2013 to gain provincial approval for a water pipeline.

Okotoks Town Councillor Tanya Thorn says council has made headway in securing a water solution for the shorter term.

"We are in the process of finalizing some water license transfers," Thorn explains. "So that gives us about a three to five year buffer in terms of water capacity for growth. We've managed to negotiate to give us the buffer because we are working through some challenges with the pipeline. We've got that time, so we're not at the state of no growth and we are in the position to accept some growth."

Thorn says there's no doubt Okotoks is a desirable place to live and will continue to grow. The annexation is key to enabling the Town to continue managing and planning growth to best benefit Okotoks and its residents.

"Our neighbours, the MD of Foothills, we consider them great partners but if we can't service those people, they will," Thorn points out. "And therefore then we don't have a say on what that growth looks like. We wanted to prevent that, we don't want to lose the identity of Okotoks by allowing other people defining what the identity looks like by growing outside our borders."

Council will continue to work on securing the water pipeline, which will service growth over the longer term and they feel that the annexation approval will strengthen their position when negotiating for the pipeline.

Listen the full interview with Tanya Thron and Carrie Fisher below:

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email us at news@okotoksonline.com