Water, water everywhere…. NOT.

All summer long, I’ve seen York Region newspapers report the ups and downs of water supply.

There have been many articles (most reporting there’s a water ban; no wait, it rained, no more ban; scratch that, there’s a ban) or letters-to-the-editor from residents who can’t understand how we have shortages in a country blessed with so much water.

• June 16 – Conservation urged as reservoir levels drop




• June 26 – Outdoor water ban issued for Newmarket, Aurora, Oak Ridges, Maple




• June 27 – Dry weather creates early water crisis in region




• June 27 – Strict water ban in effect




• July 1 – Region issues low water alert




• July 3 – Outdoor water ban lifted, but advisory remains in place




• July 4 – Water woes




• July 4 – Water restrictions raise questions




• July 4 – Officials fail to see water crisis re-occurring




• July 23 – Water use advisory remains in effect




• July 27 – New reservoir won’t solve current water woes




• August 8 – Water, water everywhere, except here in Aurora




• August 2 – Water Ban Issued for Aurora, Oak Ridges




• August 9 – Low water advisory issued for York




• August 13 – Water Ban Lifted for Aurora, Oak Ridges




• and many more if you just type “water” in the search box…

Now, I understand that my engineering fascination with infrastructure (you know, all that stuff that everyone takes for granted till it doesn’t work like water, sewer, power, etc.) is pretty geeky and doesn’t really appeal to most people, and I’ve had to learn over the years that as long as people like me make sure it works, most people just don’t care. But this approach to basic infrastructure is now coming back to haunt us.

There are a long list of reasons why we have water shortages, but here’s a few quick ones:

• For too long, people have been charged far less than it costs to bring the water to their homes.




• We actually still have un-metered systems some places in Canada, so people are not charged for the amount they use.




• Federal and provincial downloading has put more financial pressure on municipalities, and the one area they could cut is long term maintenance.




• Population growth, without the infrastructure to support it.




• And the latest biggie, climate change which will likely impact lake water levels and aquifer levels which will continually increase the duration of water shortages.

Taking water from one large sink and discharging to another large sink seems like an OK idea, until the effects of a large and growing population are taken into account. This is not unlike a couple billion people not being able to change earth’s atmosphere much, but 6.5 billion sure can.

So we now are seeing regulations against doing this, and municipalities are going to have to make massive investments in their water and sewer systems. Not to mention the investment needed just to maintain an aging system. (It should be noted that York Regions system is fairly young as these things go, so we are in better shape than most of the country.)

But the letters that struck me most were these…

• August 8 – Town sells water while flowers die, pool dries up




• August 11 – How can Newmarket afford to sell water during shortage?

What struck me was the indignation of people that, in the midst of a water crisis in their own community, water would be sold to the neighbouring community. (Never mind that I don’t consider the in-ability to fill a pool or wash a car a crisis)

It makes me wonder what these same people will think when, as we have our annual summer water bans in the future, Canadian water is being sold, or even piped with no compensation, to arid areas in the United States?

Don’t think that will happen?

For years, people have tried to have water exported under NAFTA since the rules of that agreement make it so that it’s a tipping point. Once it starts it’s very hard to stop.

And now, the SPP negotiations are about to make things orders of magnitude worse.

So when those of us raising the alarm bells, in this case primarily the Green Party, are asking you to take an interest in a high level negotiation going on behind closed doors, we’re not kidding.

It really will impact your lives. Perhaps it’s time to get geeky.