[All] Progress on Issue GREN is working on

[John Jackson]

Dropping water demand pushes pipeline idea beyond 2051
Waterloo Region Record
Region of Waterloo maintenance operator John Marton goes about his work at
the Greenbrook Water Treatment Plant in Kitchener on Monday. An update to
the region's water supply plan says that local water sources will be
sufficient for the coming decades.
 WATERLOO REGION ‹ A controversial and costly plan to pipe water from Lake
Erie to the region won't become a reality anytime soon.

 Thanks to aggressive conservation efforts and declining demand, regional
planners are confident that local water sources will be sufficient for the
coming decades. 

 The latest update to the region's Water Supply Master Plan pushes the need
for a pipeline from 2035 to beyond 2051.

 "I think that's a very important change," said director of water services
Nancy Kodousek. "We're refocussing and reinvesting in our existing
infrastructure." 

 Most of the region's water comes from wells. The rest is taken from the
Grand River. 

 While the updated plan indicates that new water supply projects within the
region may still be undertaken, they're not needed as soon as previously
believed. 

 That's largely due to a significant drop in demand, even as the population
grows. 

 Water use has dropped by an average of 2.4 per cent a year since 2007.
Daily residential consumption is forecast to drop from 203 litres per
person, per day to 168 litres by 2025.

 There are a number of factors at work, Kodousek said.

 Outdoor water use restrictions have cut summer consumption. More efficient
household appliances and fixtures are becoming commonplace and mandated
through building codes. With dollars on the line, industries have become
more focused on conservation.

 "People have taken water conservation seriously," said John Jackson, chair
of the Grand River Environmental Network. "It's avoiding us having to spend
a fortune to build a pipeline to Lake Erie."

 Some estimates have pegged the cost of a pipeline at more than $1 billion.

 That's more expensive than the region's rapid transit project, Jackson
pointed out. And it would be costly to operate, too, with electrical pumps
working to transport the water north.

 "Think of the savings you could get by avoiding pumping from Lake Erie all
the way up here," he said.

 Critics have also raised red flags about the lake's health ‹ and its
suitability as a water source.

 "It's really incredibly risky to be dependent on Lake Erie water," Jackson
said. 

 The shallowest of the Great Lakes, Erie can be unpredictable in terms of
quality. For example, toxic algae blooms are becoming more frequent and
widespread.  

 Jackson doesn't think the region's water consumption targets are
unrealistic. 

 "We're far from going as far as we can," he said. "There are all kinds of
new techniques coming up."

 The region's water supply predictions are in line with what the Grand River
Conservation Authority is forecasting as it updates its own water management
plan. 

 For the most part, the municipalities within the Grand River watershed are
in good shape, said senior water resource engineer James Etienne.

 "They're living well within their means Š and have the capacity to bring on
some additional supplies in the future," he said.

 In terms of preparedness, it's not a bad idea to keep the pipeline concept
on the far back burner.

 "I think you always want to be prepared to have alternatives," he said.

 But as soon as you let your guard down, and assume the lake is a viable
part of your future plans, "you start thinking differently about how you use
water," Etienne said.

 "I think it's very important to be as sustainable as you can and work
within the limitations of what you have available."

 There's another upside to the region's revised supply plan: Projects
totalling about $65 million, including a new Grand River reservoir, have
been removed from the 10-year capital forecast.

 "We can push it beyond that time period, and re-evaluate whether it was
still needed," Kodousek said.

 bdavis at therecord.com


http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4275295-dropping-water-demand-pushes-pip
eline-idea-beyond-2051/
-- 
John Jackson
17 Major Street
Kitchener, Ontario N2H 4R1
519-744-7503


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20131217/81eccd79/attachment.html>