Whitehorse has officially dropped Schwatka Lake as a source of drinking water for the city.
At the beginning of January, the city began to draw water from two new wells in Riverdale instead of using surface water from Schwatka Lake.
The creation of wells 8 and 9 cost the city $1.5 million.
That price is lower than what the city would have had to spend to create a new water treatment plant to abide by new federal water drinking regulations, say city officials.
An added benefit to using well water is that it contains fewer contaminants, like giardia, than surface water does, said city engineer Wayne Tuck.