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• Climate:
  
  Estevan has the distinction of being the Sunshine Capital of Canada with a 30 year annual average of 2,536.6 hours of sunshine. Estevan also has the highest annual number of hours per year with clear skies, between zero and two-tenths sky cover: 2979 hours.
  Estevan is subject to the extreme air temperature variations and low water vapour content characteristic of a continental climate. The Rocky Mountains to the west cause moist Pacific air masses to rise and drop most of their moisture before it reaches Saskatchewan. Consequently, Estevan averages about 420 mm (16.59 inches) of precipitation annually.
  Most precipitation falls as rain in June, and February is usual the driest month.
  
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• Water:
  
  Surface Water
  
  The Souris River and Long Creek are the major water bodies in the area. Boundary Dam on Long Creek can impound as much as 39.8 by 10 m. of water. Rafferty and Alameda Dams hold back, on average, 632,400 cubic decametres and 30,300 D of water respectively. Boundary and Rafferty reservoirs are connected by a pipeline for transfers of excess water from Boundary Reservoir to Rafferty Reservoir.

  Ground Water
  
  A series of glaciations with scouring and deposition of "drift" and release of fluvial and outwash gravels, sands, silts and clays, has infilled old river channels in the area. The "Estevan Valley" aquifer system, located immediately atop the Ravenscrag and two lower formations, occurs around Estevan east to west and southwest, lying about 10 miles northeast of the city at its closest point. It is a buried tributary of the Yellowstone River, and could yield 5 - 10 million gallons/day of water having a concentration of 1,670 ppm total dissolved solids. Such channels contain springs, and pressurized "artesian" pockets. Near Boundary Dam, just south of the city, substantial freshwater has been located at 400 feet below the surface in the Ravenscrag formation. Static ground water level in this vicinity is between 5 and 15 feet below the surface, with seepage in some coal seams and sand lenses estimated at a maximum of 10 cm/second.
  
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• Geology:
  
  Bedrock Geology

  The basement formations of Pre-Cambrian rocks are locally buried by approximately 3,000 metres of metamorphic and sedimentary material. Mountain building, a consequence of continental drift, fracturing and folding of strata, and volcanic eruptions, produced mountains over large areas of Saskatchewan during this era. Hundreds of millions of years of erosion then reduced the rugged ranges to an undulating plain. During the Cambrian period, which began about 600 million years ago, a vast sea progressively covered most of the province, finally retreating southwestward after 100 million years.

  In the succeeding Ordovician period, a great depression called the Williston Basin, centered geographically in southeastern Saskatchewan, but structurally and depositionally western North Dakota, was formed. Consequently, Ordovician and Silurian (limestone and dolomitic) rocks of southern Saskatchewan dip gradually and broadly southward. A second great marine waterbody covered the Williston Basin in early Middle Ordovician time; erosion along the rim of this sea provided sands and mud now known as the Winnipeg Group. This sea retreated approximately 405 million years ago, only to reappear perhaps 50 million years later. Extremely arid climatic conditions caused salts to be precipitated from this brine, creating the Prairie Evaporite formation, in which potash occurs.

  Later on, in Devonian time, southern Saskatchewan was a sea-covered platform upon which accumulated what we know today as dolomite, limestone, shale and anhydrite. Atop the Devonian formations lie Mississippian and Jurassic materials which are subsequently different, being composed of sandstones and shales formed from material deposited by rivers down cutting mountains far to the west. It is in these Mississippian and Jurassic systems that much of the region's oil deposits occur. Cretaceous processes involved continuing deposition of freshwater sediment from the west but, also the oscillations and depositions of seas -- first from the north, and then from the south, over most of Saskatchewan.

  By Tertiary time, 63 million years ago, the province was no longer covered by this sea. Again sediment from the western mountains was carried down over the area, forming an intricate mixture of locally developed sands, silts, clays and coals -- the Ravenscrag formation. This formation is the parent material underlying recent glacial deposition surrounding Estevan.
  
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• Elevation:
  
  Estevan's elevation is 572.1 metres (1,877 feet) above sea level. Two principal heights of land are located nearby, the nearest being the Missouri Coteau (or third prairie level), which rises about 182 metres (600 feet) above the surrounding terrain, approximately 96 km (60 miles) west of Estevan. Nearly 72 km (45 miles) to the northeast lies Moose Mountain, an island of uplands similarly rising 182 metres (600 feet) above the Souris Plain.

  
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• Tax:
  
  • Assessment
    Determinants of property tax are the assessed value of land and buildings and the mill rate set by City Council. The 2003 Municipal Directory indicated an assessment of 319,207,910.
  • Land
    Land is assessed by comparing similar types of properties within the city. the City Assessor may consider factors such as location, zoning, present use, desirability, services available, sale value and deleterious influences in determining rates to be applied for assessment purposes.
  • Buildings
    A physical inspection of premises is conducted by the Assessor in order to assess buildings or land improvements. An assessment manual, which provides a classification of various structure types and levels of quality of construction, is employed by the Assessor in this process.
  • Mill Rate
    Mill rates determine the tax required per $1,000 of assessed value of buildings and land. The mill rate for 2003 was set at 14.8 mills municipal, and 21 mills for school or a total 35.8 uniform mill rate.
  • Sales Tax
    Provincial Sales Tax Rate: 7%
    Federal GST: 7%

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• Utilities:
  

• Water Rates 2004:
  Water per cubic meter based on consumption $0.72
  Sewer per cubic meter based on consumption $0.73

  Other charges are the drainage levy, building, sewer and water line maintenance fee, sewer connection charge, and water connection charge. Contact the Engineering Department for the latest rate scale.

• Rates For Excess Garbage Removal:
  Charges for removal and disposal of rubbish, ashes, garbage, building refuse and other materials are decided by cost estimates prepared by the Public Works Department, and would vary with volume.
  
• Rates For Entrance to The Sanitary Landfill Site:
  (GST included unless otherwise stated)
  
  1. Cars and trucks less than 1 ton tare weight $2.00
  
  2. Utility trailers, household wastes only:
  Up to and including 300 kg payload -- $2.00
  Over 300 kg payload -- $15.00 per tonne
  
  3. All vehicles and trailers of 1 ton and over tare weight, with axle spacing of 9.1 meters or less disposing permitted wastes only.
  
  Payload rate:
  All refuse except construction and demolition wastes -- $15.00 per tonne
  Construction and demolition wastes -- $20.00 per tonne
  
  For axle spacing in excess of 9.1 meters, entrance fee shall be based upon bona fide weigh scale tickets (from scales approved by City Engineer), indicating gross, tare and pay load weights for the wastes actually delivered to the landfill site. A $5.00 maximum reduction to the landfill entrance fee shall apply to each oversize vehicle entry accompanied by such a scale ticket.
  
  4. White metal goods:
  White Goods (refrigerants must be removed prior to entry) -- $30.00 with freon $5.00 for dryers per appliance

  5. Special Wastes:
  Subject to a total minimum charge of $100.00 (GST included) per entry, the following rates shall apply:
  
  Asbestos (bagged and manifested) -- $7.00 per tonne (excavation backfill extra)
  
  Petroleum Contaminated Soils (by prior arrangement only) -- $40.00 per tonne
  (testing, remediation, certification extra)

  6. Tires:
  Automobile, light duty trucks, tandem and trailer trucks -- $5.00 per tire
  Tractor, combine and heavy construction equipment tires -- $5.00 per tire
  
  7. Animal Carcasses:
  Small animals and domestic pets -- No Charge
  Cows, horses -- $20.00 per animal
  Sheep, hogs and game animals -- No Charge

  8. Weigh Only Fee -- $5.00 per ticket

  9. Clean soil deemed to be suitable for cover material by the City -- No Charge

  10. Any other class or type of waste by special arrangement in writing from the City Engineer -- Rate to be determined by City Engineer
• Electricity Rates 2004
  
  

  Residential:	City, Town, Village & Urban Resort	Rural and Rural Resort
  Basic Monthly	$9.87	$11.86
  Energy (c/Kw h)	$7.01	$7.01
  Monthly Reconstruction	$2.00	$2.00
  Municipal surcharge	10% of consumption
  Minimum Bill	Basic and Reconstruction Monthly Charges

  
  
• Power Rates (over 2,000 kV.A):

Billing Demand: the monthly billing demand shall be the monthly recorded demand but the billing demand shall not be less than any of the following:

-- 75% of the maximum billing demand in the preceding 11 months
-- 25% of capacity made available
-- 2000 KVA

Monthly Demand Charge ($/KVA)
For service at 25 KV -- $10.75
For service at 72 KV -- $9.165
For service at 138 KV -- $8.497
For service at 230 KV -- $7.830

Energy Charge (¢/kwh) 2.642¢
Reconstruction charge does not apply to these rates
Minimum Bill -- Demand Charge

Farm Rate:
Basic Monthly Charge -- $15.99
Monthly Reconstruction Charge -- $4.95

Demand Charge ($/KVA)
First 50 KVA/month -- $0.00
Balance/KVA -- $3.57

Energy Charge (¢/kwh)
First 10,000 kwh/month -- 6.47¢
Balance/kwh -- 4.76¢

Minimum Bill -- Basic and Reconstruction Monthly charges plus $0.77/KVA of the maximum demand over 50 KVA registered over the past 11 months.

• Natural Gas Rates 2004
  
  Residential:
  
  Basic Monthly Charge -- $10.50
  Energy Charge per cubic metre (m3) -- 32.92¢
  Minimum Bill -- Basic Monthly Charge

Farm:

Basic Monthly Charge -- $11.55
Energy Charge per cubic metre (m3) -- 32.92¢
Minimum Bill -- Basic Monthly Charge

General Service:

Less than 100,000 m3/year:
Basic Monthly Charge -- $17.00
Energy Charge per cubic metre (m3) -- 32.13¢
Minimum Bill -- Basic Monthly Charge

100,000 to 660,000 m3/year:
Basic Monthly Charge -- $37.25
Energy Charge per cubic metre (m3) -- 31.33¢
Minimum Bill -- Basic Monthly Charge

Industrial - Commodity (600,000 - 1,320,000 m3/year):

Basic Monthly Charge -- Negotiated
Energy Charge per cubic metre (m3) -- Negotiated
1ST 40,000 cubic metres/month -- Negotiated /cubic metre
balance of cubic metres used -- Negotiated /cubic metre
Minimum Bill -- Negotiated

Propane, fuel oil are also available.

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• Population: 11,000

• Trading Area: 50,000

• Location: Estevan is situated in the Southeast corner of Saskatchewan, approximately 16 km (10 miles) north of the U. S. border, and 129 km (80 miles) west of the Manitoba border. It is perched on the north side of the Souris River Valley, a recent glacial spillway which stretches over 650 km (400 miles), entering the United States and re-entering Canada to join the Assiniboine River near Brandon, Manitoba. Latitude of the city is 49 degrees 8 min. N. and longitude is 102 degrees 59 min. W.
  
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• Economic Base: Coal fired Power Generation, Coal mining, Oil and gas exploration and drilling, Oil & Gas service industry, Manufacturing, Regional Service Centre for Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North Dakota, Farming & Ranching.
  
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• Key Distances:

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• Highways leading to Estevan include:

No. 39: Northwest to Weyburn, Regina, Moose Jaw and Saskatoon

Nos. 39/18: East to Bienfait; No.18 East to Oxbow (jct. Hwy No. 9 to Moose Mountain Provincial Park), Brandon and Winnipeg

No. 39: Southeast to Bienfait, North Portal, a 24 hour Port of Entry between U.S. and Saskatchewan - busiest in Western Canada

No. 18: West to Torquay, Lake Alma and "The Big Muddy"

No. 47: North to Benson, Stoughton, Hwy. No. 1, and Melville

No. 47: South to Estevan Highway (Port of Entry) and Noonan, North Dakota

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• Communications: 2 Radio stations; Cable television; 3 Newspapers; Full fiber optic and cellular telephone network.
  
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