Waterloo Region in limbo over water capacity crisis as councillors consider solutions

CTV’s Spencer Turcotte takes a look at some potential solutions to a water shortage.

It’s being considered one of the biggest issues Region of Waterloo council has ever had to deal with – the water capacity crisis.

Solutions to tackle the problem were discussed in council chambers on Wednesday night.

It comes after the community learned in December that aging infrastructure and incompatible systems were putting constraints on the region’s water supply.

“I would say staff have been working really, really furiously to find some solutions,” said Mathieu Goetzke, the region’s acting CAO.

Those solutions are aimed at the Mannheim Service Area, which includes Kitchener, Waterloo and parts of Cambridge and the townships.

“[Things like] a new pumping station and new wells, new modular technology at the Mannheim Water Treatment Plant, expanding existing wells supply, reallocating water supply,” said Goetzke, listing some of the solutions.

Regional staff said these solutions aren’t about picking one option or the other, and instead, about implementing them in conjunction to ensure these is enough water for future growth.

Councillors made no firm decisions on Wednesday, but they did hear from many passionate delegates, including Kevin Thomason with the Grand River Environmental Network. He voiced his concern with some of the solutions presented.

“We didn’t want a Lake Erie pipeline 30 years ago and we certainly don’t want one from that polluted, algae-choked lake right now,” said Thomason.

Advocates against the Wilmot Land Assembly said this is another reason to pause further development there.

“The proposed industrial site in Wilmot is not technically in the Mannheim Service Area, but it is not outside of the system,” said John Jordan, a Wilmot resident.

At the same time, councillors heard from the development community about the effects this pause on new projects around the region is having on jobs.

“It is the people operating the machine, the people putting the pipe under the ground that won’t even be drawn from multiple years,” said Joseph Puopolo, senior advisor for Urban Initiatives. “Unfortunately, the longer this goes on, it’s going to have a greater chilling effect beyond the weather we have outside.”

Melissa Durrell with Build Urban, a coalition of developers, talked about the urgency of allowing development to continue.

“Many of these engineering conversations could have happened and there could have been solutions that were found before pausing all the development,” Durrell said.

Regional staff now must look over a lengthy report involving the proposed solutions and bring recommendations back to council.

There was some discussion about a possible deferral to April, but Kitchener mayor and regional councillor Berry Vrbanovic said council needs to send clear signals to the community that they’re dealing with this in a timely manner.

“I don’t think this can be deferred another month,” said Vrbanovic, pointing to the thousands of construction jobs on hold.

In the end, much of council agreed and they will return with those recommendations in March.

“In my 30 years of elected office, this is probably the single biggest issue that a council has had to deal with, and we want to make sure that it’s done right,” said Vrbanovic.

In a February committee meeting, council will also get more information about the possible implications for Wilmot residents when it comes to reallocating water sources and distribution.