[All] News from the Ministries

[Louisette Lanteigne]

In an email sent to me by the Federal Natural Resources Minister, I found out that a 
new study has been initiated to develop a surface water ground water model for the Waterloo Moraine which will be included in an upcoming compiliation of research on the Waterloo Moraine in a special edition of a scientific journal edited by the Geological Survey of Canada and the University of Waterloo.
 
Details online here at: www.waterloomoraineact.com
 
Also, the provincial Ministry of Agriculture is reviewing my concerns regarding source water and protection of aggregate resources. The minister stated my concerns are being forwarded to their Environmental Land Use Policy Unit for review. Correspondence in the attachment.
 
Also in the attachment is a three page response from the DFO regarding concerns in the West Side Lands. After going to the RCMP they finally did a site visit on April 11th 2010, many months after the August 2009 land augmentations took place. Based on what they saw on April 11, they stated there were no infringements seen "That day". 
 
The problem is they reviewed the creek well after spring thaw, many months after augmentations took place so of course there would be no sediment issues to be seen. 
 
I called the Ontaro District Manager, Ms. Larochelle and stated, that clearly the bufferzones of Clair Creek were breeched which violated the OMB agreement but fisheries staff stated that is a planning issue. I told them they did not provide the requested details on how their review was conducted or by whom. and she basically stated, they are understaffed, underfunded and cannot afford to do dilligence in regards to enforcement issues so they often rely upon conservation authorities to assist. The problem is the base data being used by conservation authorities are often based on developer paid for studies that show issues of bias in test times and methods. (This is why it is CRITICAL that we secure an objective review and this is why I am thrilled that a new study with the Geological Survey and the U of W is taking place.) Ms. Larochelle stated she mentioned the primary recharge in Clair Creek to her supervisors who quickly stated that source water
 is not their jurisdiction. It was clear that the DFO are bound by very limited jurisdictional criteria when regarding fish habitats. They can only deal with fish issues on site. No regard to water issues. I told here this is an intermittant creek system but again the fiscal reality crept back in, we are understaffed and underfunded. 
 
So there you have it folks. Happy Water Day!
 
Lulu :0)
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