Olds College has all the funding it needs to build its Botanic Gardens and Treatment Wetlands.
On Friday, the college received $2.6 million from the federal government through the Community Adjustment Fund, part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan for local job creation.
The province has already matched dollars raised by Olds College’s fundraising campaign to cover the remainder of the costs.
The $4.7-million project will have a six-acre wetlands that will treat storm and grey water at the campus while providing an outdoor laboratory for wetland research.
It will give researchers insight into the usefulness of plants and water features as a natural way to cleanse grey water runoff.
While there is information on wetlands in other parts of North America, little research has been done on wetlands specifically within Alberta.
Eventually, there will be hundreds of species of plants and the project could include an amphitheatre and even an arboretum — a botanic garden devoted to trees.
Site preparation will begin in a few weeks, depending upon the weather.