[All] The Grand River Watershed Forum 2010

Sat Sep 18 16:37:56 EDT 2010

GRCA Watershed Forum

I arrived a little late at the forum, and missed the message of the MOE minister but hopefully if others did attend they may be able to relay what was said by him. I entered at the time Joe Farwell spoke. He is the new CAO of the GRCA, taking over for Peter Emerson.

His presentation was focused on the contents of the latest edition of THE GRAND, which was distributed to KW Record readers on Saturday Sept. 18. 

The PDF copy will be available  on line in the near future to be posted at this link: http://www.grandriver.ca/index/document.cfm?Sec=53&Sub1=0&sub2=0
(The current edition has the cover page title, A PLAN FOR THE GRAND.)

In a nutshell, this is what he relayed:

Anticipated growth in population rates for the Watershed from 2006 to 
2031 breaks down like this: Waterloo Region: 43.7%, Brantford 40%, Brant
 County, 40.8%Flood control measures are being examined to mitigate risksSewage treatment is being upgraded with a total investment of $500 millionGroundwater and surface water monitoring network has been developed to provide better water quality data.More focus is going to be placed on point source contamination of nutrients to see where loadings are taking place. (if it's sewage or farms etc.)Assessments are underway to determine impacts of projected growth, what the needs are by municipalities, agriculture, ecosystems. How this will be affected by Climate changeFuture water sources are being reviewed along with the promotion of conservation strategies to offset needsThere is a strong focus placed on Stream Restoration, eg. Mill Creek where Brown Trout are now successfully spawning and hatching. Stream is cooler, cleaner and healthier.
Reforestation: They are aiming for 30% tree coverage which would make our water shed 
one of the most heavily forested if successful. Projects are being done in 
partnership with Trees Ontario.Water rates have tripled in the last 10 years with no complaints from the public. 
______________________________________________

Ontario Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller

Due to the fact this was the 10th year of the Watershed forum, he provided a synopsis of past presentations.

If anyone would like to review past presentations of previous watershed forums it can be reviewed on line here: 
http://www.grandriver.ca/index/document.cfm?Sec=26&Sub1=0&sub2=0

Mr. Miller stated:
The Grand River is unique and is considered the center of water managementThe Grand is a leader in creating the watershed forum. Both this and the Grand River Watershed Report really caught on. Source protection has been a consistent theme throughout the past decadeThe city of Guelph's Waste Water Master Plan lead the way to showing the value of human development towards water treatment. The MOE states the work being done in our watershed is relevant for water issues across the province.The wonderful thing about the forum is how it brings all levels together. We have ministers, planners, shareholders, citizens, municipal officials and the conservation authority all meeting together. This is very good.If we were to implement full cost pricing for municipal water it would give us a conservation incentive. The days of focusing on "New Build" is coming to an end. Aging infrastructure will cost, but retrofits pay for themselves. We passed the Sustainable
 Water Systems Act but it needs to be implemented._________________________________________________________
Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation: Glen Murray

Politicans see the light at the end of the tunnel, then they order more tunnelOver the next 20 years, demand for water will exceed availability by 40%Many people of the world will have less to drink than one flush worth of water per dayWe've got to make Open Ontario Plan a priority. (Details here: http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/openOntario/index.php?Lang=EN We've got the Water Opportunities and Water Conservation Act, 2010 in the works (Details here: http://www.conserveourwater.ca/?p=514 )We are working in partnership with Clifford Tech Waste, Ecologic on their sound wave pipe cleaning, exploring nano technologies. We need to foster culture and arts with the environment and with UniversitiesWe currently have a fragmentation of governance systems and we need to work towards a more integrated system as seen in Israel, Germany, Singapore. We need to remove friction of knowledge to make our processes seamless by sharing information between business, science,
 public and political systems.WaterTAP (Water Technologies Acceleration Project) will help bring people together in order to better align funding, better showcase what we can accomplish. ( Details here: http://www.davis.ca/en/blog/Climate-Change-Law-Practice-Group/2010/05/18/Ontario-to-table-Water-Opportunities-and-Water-Conservation-Act-today )We can be North American Leaders in water managementWater is held in trust. It's not just ours. 
There is a demand for Ontario's technologies but we can bring our values to the table too.3.2 billion is going towards research in life sciences, ICT tech etc. (information and communication technologies) with the Region being a leader of our innovation dollars.In 18 months we've recovered all jobs lost to the recession. We continue to cut through the red tape, to go global.80% of our jobs are of innovation whereas in the past, 2/3rds were focused on making stuff and agriculture.Clean Technologies allows us to lower our eco imprint to protect our resources.My advice to politicians, don't look at your wallet, look at your wallet in relation to your children's future. Q & A to Minister Murray: We've got a phosphorus system that is 95% effective but it can fail 5% of the time. No water technician is willing to certify it unless it's 100%. We can't stamp it with the 5% variance. Can we relax regulation to allow the use of this?

Response: We're looking for ways to get the job done. We can work on that.

Q: With our dependence on cars and our current quality of life we need to view things in a smaller scope. What about cars?

Response: I'm going car free because I live in an urban setting. I can do that based on the existing urban design. For a mobile work force the LRT offers better choices. It grows a tax base with better jobs and better clusters. The smarter the population, the greater the income and greater tax base they can contribute. Better housing, better choices. This region is leading on that.
___________________________________

Panel Discussion featuring: 
(N) Rob Nixon Maintenance and Engineering of Owens Corning in Guelph. He helped to reduce their company's water use by 50%.
(J) Tim Jackson, Tech Capital Partners & CEO Accelerator Center Waterloo
(W) Cameron Walsh, Manager of Wastewater services Guelph
(R) David Rudolph, Executive & Scientific Director, Water Institute and Professor, Earth & Environmental Sciences, U of W.

W: Pressure of growth maked us look at Water Quality and Water management. It engaged the watershed community to approach targeted solutions in an integrated way.

N:Guelph's Community Research Plan shows that when water prices go up it impacts businesses and creates incentives. 

J: I help to commercialize things. There is no venture capital except XPB and it's all about water. 

R: We're an international model. Many easy solutions have been used already. It's getting more complicated but that creates opportunities. Regulation and compliance is by municipalities. Regulators must work towards meeting objectives, not compliance and that would allow us to use more imperialistic data. 

Question: At what level should we form water policy? Province manages aggregates, fisheries are federal. How do we approach this?

W: Source water can integrate policies to create water legislation
R: It's up to provincial/municipal governance

J: They don't innovate solutions unless they NEED to. When people realize there is an issue, innovation will be there. Before that no attention is given to it.

N:Upstream guidelines are created from downstream concerns. 

Question: Lake Erie Pipeline perhaps is NOT a good idea. Shouldn't we live within our means?

R: Growth for our area may grow disproportionate to our ecological constraints. Even with conservation, growth will increase. Europe sets scenarios and pipelines is one way to get there. What do we need to provide for it? That's a decision the public needs to make.

W: A pipeline is an option but there are jurisdictional issues. Living within our means is the preferred approach in Guelph.

J: Ministry of Innovation and Research is here today. There is research money invested for us to solve this issue but can it? I don't know. John Milloy as Minister stated they expect us to try to find a solution.

N: A pipeline is a ludicrous idea. Too many opportunities exist to use less. 

Question: What about bottled water? Right now the loophole exists to remove water from the Great Lakes as long as it's packaged in small units. 

R: Water bottling is a small portion of our overall water supply (.5%) and we have to consider other products like beer as well. The trend right now is for people to use refillable containers so the issue might already be dying off. Public demand for bottled water is dropping.

Question regarding our current lifestyle and trends on water use

N: Green lawns are out, yellow is in. If you have a green lawn you're frowned upon in our community.

Question: With Lake Erie going toxic, what's the alternative for a Lake Erie pipeline. Would it be a pipeline to another water body? 

W: The other option is water conservation. Use less.

Question regarding challenges/opportunities

N: Improving water quality is a municipal concern but natural gas development is a provincial one.  We need continued education on these issues.

J: My kids know water conservation is the right thing to do and they act on that. I ask them why they bottle their own water and they don't know but they do anyways. We didn't teach them that as parents so it's probably coming from the schools. 

W: Water is finite. That's a constraint but with more research, more data and enhanced Storm Water Management systems it can help. Our data is limited and we need long term monitoring and with the help of the GRCA and U of W we can do that. Data and policy is a constraint but IBM, and the Universities are establishing an integrated data system with the Toronto Research Alliance.

J: Clear Path Robotics used for land mines etc. is adapting measures to automate hydro-geologic surveys. 

R: Trained consultants working to put data together for source water are revealing gaps in the system. More instruments are needed to foster results. Multiple jurisdictions can all contribute.

W: All water is treated to drinking water standards but only a small portion is actually consumed. There are significant opportunities to match water quality with water use that could save money.

R: Grey water options are available to Universities

W: We can implement grey water in new facilities but it's tough to retrofit existing systems. It's costly to do. 

Question regarding Wellness and Sustainability

J: To recruit and retain talent, we can use arts, culture and the GRCA to collaborate on projects such as creating natural amphitheater forums.

W: The land as it exists currently already promotes wellness. Trails, canoe and fishing etc.

R: Energy and water are integral systems. Do well for one, it benefits the other. Uncertainty can change our path dramatically though. Walkerton water crisis, the prosperity of RIM, leaves in mind the question: What's next? We need to give the future some flex. 

Question from Norah: What about MATURE trees. It takes years for them to get to the point they will reduce carbon at significant levels. Why are we not protecting our existing mature trees? 

R: We're going from the current 13% coverage to 30% which will make us the most heavily canopied watershed.

Question: Energy or water, which is more important?

N: 50% of the money is going towards water, only 5% towards natural gas. They are related. For every $1 invested in water conservation, $3 of energy is saved. 

Question: Preferred future

J: 20-30 years from now they would have dealt with water issues via innovation and are helping others in the world to implement the same.

W: The Grand, a Natural Heritage Tributary will be the centrepiece with diverse economic base. If we manage it better we can share that.

R: Aspire to be the most energy and water efficient community. The Grand is being used a as a Research Platform for Urbanizing Watersheds. The GRCA, the U of W and University of Guelph all supported this concept. The Feds too. Citizens should lobby for this. 

To learn more about the Grand being used as a Research Platform for Urbanizing Watersheds visit here:
http://www.mri.gov.on.ca/english/news/ORF011110_waterloo_bd.asp 

Question from Lulu: With 20 years of development proposals already in the works and aggregates encroaching on our primary recharge and capture zones along the Grand River is there any attempt to assess the impacts of these projected projects? So many are looking ahead but what about the more immediate risks like these plans already in the works? Can we put a moratorium to see if we can adapt to what is coming before we continue to proceed to plan ahead? 

No answer provided. Break for lunch.

Ken Kirby Painter

Ken Kirby grew up in Portugal, immigrated to Canada. He went to BC and saw lakes teaming with salmon. He later explored the artic where he met with Algonquins. The aboriginals to the north are of Mongolian decent with the characteristic Mongolian patch on the lower backs. He blended with the culture, learned their ways and went to BC with their stories. When he came back to BC, the lake full of salmon was dead including the Yellow Belly cutthroat trouts unique to the stream. The government reduced Coho and the yellow belly thinking it would benefit the Sockeye, instead they all declined. The Yellowbelly and Coho were vital to supporting nutrient deposits upstream. Without them the ecological system collapsed. The fish deposited by bears used to fertilize the trees with nitrogen 14 and 15 (specific to fish) and phosphorus as noted in bore hole samples taken from the trees.When creek remediation efforts began the RCMP issued Cease and Desist. Residents
 sent letters respectfully declining to obeyThe media focused on the issue, the RCMP backed off and the river is back to pre white man days according to elders.The remediation process involved Trout Unlimited, Pacific Salmon Foundation and RBC and now the group is cleaning up 5 more creeks and reforesting.Today the Department of Fisheries and the MOE are also partners. In BC we don't have conservation authorities but we want them. Teach us how to do it.The making of community is everyone's job.
Ken Kirby as a painter, painted the world's largest portrait. He was invited to reveal his work at a meeting held in Canada with high level politicians, global monarchs and Big Business reps. His work featured an Inuit Elder and he told the crowed of the plight of the Algonquins saying how they wanted and need a land of "their own". That evening sparked the formation of the territory Nunavut which means, "our own." When graced to be with the right people at the right time, change can happen that fast.

Part II of the Grand River Watershed Forum 2010 coming soon.

Lulu :0)

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20100918/7f658592/attachment.html>