The Grand River Source Protection Authority has released the results of the Guelph and Guelph/Eramosa Tier 3 Water Budget and Local Area Risk Assessment study. The study’s findings were presented to the members of the Lake Erie Region Source Protection Committee at its meeting on April 6, 2017.
A Tier 3 Water Budget and Local Area Risk Assessment is a detailed scientific study aimed at evaluating a municipal drinking water system’s ability to meet current and future water quantity demands, a requirement under Ontario’s Clean Water Act, 2006.
Guelph and Guelph/Eramosa Tier 3 study results:
-The City of Guelph’s and Guelph/Eramosa Township’s wells can meet the current needs of residents and the municipal drinking water systems.
– The study predicts that the City of Guelph’s Queensdale municipal well will not be able to meet the future needs of City residents and the municipal drinking water system, under normal climate conditions and during a prolonged drought.
– The water quantity protection area that includes the City of Guelph and Guelph/Eramosa Township’s Hamilton Drive wells has been assigned a significant risk level. Guelph/Eramosa Township’s Rockwood wells have been assigned a low risk level. The water quantity protection areas were established through the Tier 3 study, and encompass the City of Guelph, significant portions of the Townships of Guelph/Eramosa and Puslinch and the Town of Erin, as well as smaller portions of the Region of Halton and the Region of Waterloo. Maps of the water quantity protection areas can be found on the Guelph/Guelph-Eramosa Tier 3 webpage.
The findings of the Tier 3 study signal the need to carefully examine all existing and new water takings within the water quantity protection areas in order to evaluate their contribution to water quantity stress. In addition, the findings highlight the need to identify and assess activities that reduce groundwater recharge within the water quantity protection areas.
“The next step will be to evaluate the risks to identify water takings that have the greatest impact on municipal supplies and explore effective risk management measures,” explains Martin Keller, Source Protection Program Manager, Grand River Source Protection Authority. “The Lake Erie Source Protection Region looks forward to working closely with its municipal partners in the next phase of the Tier 3 project, in order to develop water quantity policies that protect source water and provide sustainable groundwater management solutions that benefit everyone.”
The Guelph and Guelph/Eramosa Tier 3 study has undergone a peer review on behalf of the province by a team of highly qualified third party technical experts working in both academia and private consulting. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change has accepted the Tier 3 study results. Local municipalities also participated as municipal peer reviewers and provided comments.
The study has been led by the Grand River Source Protection Authority in collaboration with the City of Guelph, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.
For additional information about the ongoing work to protect the water quantity available for the City of Guelph and Township of Guelph/Eramosa drinking water systems, please visit the Guelph/Guelph-Eramosa Tier 3 webpage.
