Regional councillor calls for investigation to seek ‘clarity’ on water capacity issue | CBC News
Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Regional Coun. Doug Craig says he wants there to be an investigation into the region’s water capacity constraint.
Craig, who represents Cambridge on regional council, said he will be tabling a notice of motion on March 10, asking for an external expert to look at the history of the water capacity constraint identified in December to restore public trust.
“We need to build confidence back into the community with regards to water concerns the public has,” he told CBC News.
Craig said he hopes the investigation also brings clarity to what happened over the last five years and why council was not informed earlier.
“We’re going forward with a number of steps to improve the situation, but as I’ve said to people, it’s just as important to know how we got into this situation,” he said.
Back in December, the region revealed it had found a future water capacity issue in the Mannheim Service Area, which supplies water to large parts of Kitchener and Waterloo. Smaller parts of Cambridge, Wilmot and Woolwich are also affected.
A presentation given by regional staff on Feb. 25 showed that while annual pumping rates of the Mannheim well field started to rise in 2022, water levels started to decline.
Craig asked at that meeting why staff did not notify council about the issue then, rather than several months ago.
Geoff Moroz, manager of hydrogeology and source water with the region, said water trends take time to form and staff’s understanding at the time was that there was more water supply available than what they currently understand today using a revised methodology.
“We thought there was more operational flexibility in the system and more room within the system,” Moroz said.
“If you’re seeing these water level declines, you don’t know if it’s indicative of a short-term thing or long-term thing.”
Staff believed at that time the region could take from other sources, like the Middleton well field, which they know now is not possible, which reduces pumping flexibility in the Mannheim Service Area, Moroz said.
Craig said he also wants the investigation to provide solutions or recommendations to avoid a similar situation in the future and says he’s hopeful council will vote in favour of the motion.
“I am hopeful and I think the public is hopeful too to get some clarity in what’s going on,” he said.