The Wellington Federation of…

The Wellington Federation of Agriculture (WFA) is the largest farm organization in the County of Wellington representing over 1400 businesses within the County of Wellington. We work with the OFA to develop consensus in a diverse agriculture industry and lobby for policies that create a sustainable and profitable environment for farming in Ontario. We support the extension of the moratorium on water bottling permits, but should be time limited

One of the largest municipalities in Wellington County embarked on a Scoped Tier 3 Study and Water Supply Master Plan. This plan will not be completed by the end of the current moratorium. The incomplete studies as well as the incomplete Provincial Review would create a dangerous gap in information necessary for accurate assessment of risk to the Township of large-scale water taking for the purpose of water bottling. Therefore, the extension of the moratorium is essential for the decision-making process. Many other municipalities in the county are reviewing their Asset Management Plans and are recognizing that water management is a significant natural resource asset in their communities. Municipalities need more time to scientifically assess their long-term water needs for both the urban and rural residents.

Hunter and Associates, “Potable Water Sources 2018 to 2041 and beyond” provides some valuable evidence and concepts for residents and businesses within the County.
• Open for Business has to include farm businesses. Wellington County has the highest number of milk producing farms in Ontario (OMAFRA 2017). Current research is limited in its scope, with water budgets focusing only on municipal water supplies, not rural needs. Farmers rely on wells, and although most of these do not currently tap into the deep aquifer, the full long-term impact of water taking from the deep aquifer on farm wells is not fully understood.
• Not all water is the same. Water quality assessment is outside the scope of most water research, with many documents assuming that all groundwater is potable for plants, animals and humans. This is not the case. Some areas within Centre Wellington demonstrate issues with water from the deep aquifer such as elevated levels of natural hardness, arsenic, sulphate, iron, and at one municipal well levels of Total Dissolved Solids nearly four times the provincial drinking water guidelines. On a local dairy farm forage and crop analysis have shown elevated levels of iron that could only be traced back to ground water, impacting general health, immune response and fertility of the animals.
• Prioritizing groundwater uses. We support water management that recognizes a “hierarchy of use” whereby some uses of the water, such as for essential human and animal needs and for ecosystem protection, will take precedence over others.
• Although considered a water-rich province, from 1998 to 2002 and again in 2007 Ontario experienced some of the worst droughts in its history. Locally, Ontario’s drought summers of 2012 and 2016 were the driest since 1960 and 1978, while the summer of 2018 local farms experienced significant drought where long standing wells went dry. With the increased incidence and duration of droughts, increased intensity of rainfall and more extreme and localized weather patterns, the Ministry needs a mechanism to be able to respond to changes in water availability.

As agricultural businesses, the future of agriculture will need the option to irrigate fields in times of extreme dry weather. We are very concerned that agriculture’s future water needs and the of the yet fully unknown impact of commercial water taking effecting the sustainability and long-term water security of farm operations.

Janet Harrop
President, Wellington Federation of Agriculture