“We’re not leaving any stone unturned:” Waterloo Region searches for ways to increase water capacity

As some businesses face an uncertain financial future, what is Waterloo Region doing to address water capacity concerns? CTV’s Jeff Pickel reports.

Region of Waterloo officials say they may not have all the answers yet, but they are looking at options to increase water capacity as they face a potential shortage in the future.

In December, the region announced there were water capacity issues in the Mannheim Service area, which provides water to parts of Kitchener, Waterloo, Woolwich Township and Wilmot Township. At the time, the region said there were no concerns for current residents, but there could be problems in the future if the issue wasn’t addressed.

Since then, the region put a pause on approvals for new development projects while the search for a solution continued.

“It’s fair to say that we’re not leaving any stone unturned on this one,” Rod Regier, the region’s commissioner of planning, development and legislative services, said. “We’ll look at small contributions to the water supply as well as large, non-incremental solutions and recognize sometimes the smaller ones are a little easier to bring on quickly.”

A group of builders and developers who work in Waterloo Region recently called for clarity on the situation, citing concerns from investors.

However, representatives for the region said they are not yet in a position to offer a timeline as to when the issue could be resolved.

“They need to have certainty. We’re going to work towards delivering certainty as quickly as we can,” Regier said. “But it’s going to be a little while before we pin down the precise program for bringing on new capacity.”

Reiger said the region has projects in its ten-year plan that can incrementally increase capacity. The region is currently looking at how quickly those plans can be accelerated.

“We’re going to be bringing forward a very preliminary list of projects to council at the end of the month and it’s going to give us very high-level timelines because many of these projects still need to be vetted,” Regier explained.

He confirmed the province is involved in the process and the region is hoping for help to pay for an expedite the process.

“We’ve had some really positive preliminary conversations with the province about doing exactly that. They are keenly interested in helping us solve the issue and get some of this infrastructure in place as quickly as possible,” Regier said.

When it comes to large projects, such as expanding the LRT to Cambridge and the Wilmot Land Assembly, the region said those long term projects are still years away, and they do not anticipate the water capacity issue will still be a problem at that time.