Hi Ms. Saxe
I live in Waterloo Ontario. I wanted to inform you of something I recently discovered. A new well is being proposed in the City of Waterloo and I submitted a Part II order request for the well saying it lacks evidence for proven need, it poses a risk to natural recharge areas and rare species. The submission resulted in a meeting I had with regional hydrology officials to see if we could resolve issues.
We’ve had a number of high water using industries close in recent months here in the Region of Waterloo including two Schneider meat processing plants, so I inquired if the Region is aware of how much water volumes were used by these companies and if that volume is enough to offset the need for a new municipal well. I found out the Region actually has no records for industrial water use, nor are they aware of the potential consequences of closing those well or how it will impact our local water budget. This poses an enormous liability risk.
In Kitchener for example, a municipal well system known as the Greenbrook Wells had to be closed due to contamination issues and an upgrade to address the matter. When the wells were closed the natural water table started to return and this resulted in the flooding of multiple homes in the area. Who assumes liability when these factories close? There are many issues to consider.
With trends of technical firms replacing our high water using industries, we might see more issues like this in the days ahead. The Ontario MOE and Ontario Environmental Commissioner have been informed of this but I wasn’t sure who else to contact in regards to this so if you know of anyone who may benefit from this information please feel free to share this information
In theWN EA Response to Part II Order Request is the minutes of the meeting as taken by Regional staff members where they clearly admit they do not have this vital information.
Thank you kindly for your time.