Results of Guelph and Guelph/Eramosa Tier 3 Water Budget and Local Area Risk Assessment study released

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.

Background Information

The initial focus of the Tier 3 study, which began in 2008, was on the City of Guelph’s municipal drinking water system. 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.

As the study progressed, it became clear that the study area would expand beyond the boundaries of the City of Guelph. Subsequently, the municipal drinking water systems of Guelph/Eramosa Township were also included in the study. Guelph/Eramosa Township provided input to ensure proper characterization of the Township’s drinking water system. The Townships of Guelph/Eramosa and Puslinch, the Town of Erin and the County of Wellington were invited to participate in the process and provide comments during the risk assessment phase of the project, and the Region of Waterloo was consulted where the Guelph/Guelph-Eramosa Tier 3 model overlapped with the Cambridge Tier 3 model. The Region of Halton has also been kept informed by the Grand River Source Protection Authority as the study area extended into Halton.

The Grand River Source Protection Authority is the lead authority in the Lake Erie Source Protection Region, responsible for the administration of the Source Protection Program under the Clean Water Act, 2006 throughout the Grand River, Long Point Region, Kettle Creek, and Catfish Creek watersheds. The Lake Erie Region Source Protection Committee has the responsibility to develop and update the Grand River Source Protection Plan, and to ensure that municipal drinking water sources are protected. The Source Protection Program was established under the Act to protect both the quality and quantity of existing and proposed municipal drinking water sources. The water quality components of the Grand River Source Protection Plan were approved and have been in place since July 1, 2016. A Tier 3 water budget study is a major piece of technical work, which addresses the water quantity component of the plan.

Source water protection is about protecting drinking water resources such as lakes, rivers and groundwater, from contamination or overuse. Water is critical to all aspects of our lives. Protecting the sources of our drinking water is important to ensure that there is enough safe water for all our uses – now and in the future. To learn more about source water protection in the Lake Erie Source Protection Region, please visit: www.sourcewater.ca.

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.

Further information:

Lisa Stocco, GRCA Manager of Communications
Phone 519-621-2763 x2316  |  Email lstocco@grandriver.ca

Martin Keller, Source Protection Program Manager
Phone 519-620-7595 |  Email mkeller@grandriver.ca