The government proposal to…

The government proposal to amend Ontario Regulation 463/16 extending the moratorium on prohibiting the extraction of groundwater by commercial operations, namely Nestle Waters Canada, until January 1st, 2020 is a step in the right direction.

However, I am not sure what the government will be able to achieve during this extension that it could not have already resolved between April 2017 and the present.

I suspect the extension will simply be used to maintain the status quo so that Nestle can continue to remove millions of litres of groundwater from the watershed on a daily basis. In other words, the decision is actually no decision of any consequence. If there are any true concerns regarding the viability of the groundwater reserves of Wellington County, the government should be looking specifically at the Aberfoyle well where Nestle extracts 3.7 million litres of water per day and at the Hillsburgh well where Nestle extracts 1.1 million litres per day.

With global warming will come more drought-like conditions and adequate water supplies will inevitably become a major and ongoing issue. The government's "Places to Grow" plan proposes to make Centre Wellington a growth area with the intent to double its population by 2040. This will put enormous pressure on maintaining sufficient water to service the community.

The government cannot "have its cake and eat it"! Nestle plans to remove an additional 1.6 million litres of water from the Middlebrook well each and every day, all while the government pursues a policy of increasing the population of Centre Wellington. If allowed, Nestle will export most of this water out of Wellington County. With our changing climate there is strong evidence to suggest the community will experience severe water shortages in the future.

One has to question why the government continues to support an industry that really has no true merit. Commercial water extraction allows companies like Nestle to remove groundwater indiscriminately from the watershed. Environmental laws forbid a river or stream being diverted to another watershed yet the government seems oblivious to the fact that the two activities basically create the same results.

Wells like Middlebrook should be public owned assets so that if and when the Township does experience a water shortage, the issue will be a part of a central municipal infrastructure dedicated to the community and not a multi-national company's bottom line.