Should citizens of Wellington County have to compete with gravel companies for a reliable supply of drinking water?
In the groundwater-dependent Township of Puslinch, this has been a controversial topic for decades, with the new year bringing renewed demands for stronger drinking water protections.
The citizens of Puslinch township and Cambridge and water advocates across the province are raising concerns over a massive water-taking application submitted by John Dick Construction Limited.
This application requests permission to extract 13.7 million liters of water per day, for 120 days per year, for ten years from Lower Quarry Lake. Additionally, they intend to extract 1 million litres per day, every day, for ten years from a second source called Quarry Sump.
This application is currently being reviewed by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks, which has classed this proposed “Permit to take Water” as “anticipated to have the highest potential of causing unacceptable environmental impactor interference.”
John Dick Construction Limited is a gravel supplier, also known as an aggregate extractor. These companies sell aggregate materials like gravel, sand and crushed stone for use in the construction of roads, buildings and concrete.
To mine gravel pits, they must be kept dry. Aggregate extractors achieve this by pumping water out of the area and lowering the local water table: a process known as “dewatering.”
Puslinch township is an aggregate hotspot. The towering mounds of gray rocks are impossible to miss on an otherwise densely forested drive through the area.
While aggregate mining has brought employment and industry to Puslinch, dewatering practices are threatening the area’s wetlands, water table and, in turn, its supply of drinking water.
In 2022, Puslinch council sought a pause on aggregate extraction after the Roszell wetland dried up, following years of dewatering by the Roszell gravel pit. At the time, Puslinch council’s consultant hydrogeologist Stan Denhoed believed that “groundwater levels are forty to fifty centimetres lower than they would be in the absence of aggregate extraction.”
According to The Ripple Effects of Draining Ontario’s Wetlands, published by Environmental Defence in 2024, the province has lost 72 per cent of its original wetlands since colonization and cannot afford to lose any more. Wetlands clean water, protect from floods and provide a habitat for many of Ontario’s endangered flora and fauna.
The “Permit to take Water” submitted by John Dick Construction Limited was discussed at the Jan. 15 Puslinch council meeting. Hydrogeologists from Wellington Source Water Protection (WSWP) raised concerns that the proposed site is in a “Highly Vulnerable Aquifer”, a “Significant Groundwater Recharge Area,” and a draft “Wellhead Protection Area,” making this a particularly damaging dewatering operation.
Several groups have come forward with alternatives and recommendations. WSWP has recommended shortening the permit to five years instead of ten to give ample time for experts to review the impacts on the area.
On the other hand, local water advocacy group Wellington Water Watchers has recommended “denying or rejecting this Permit to take Water altogether” until the Aggregate Act, Ontario’s legislation to control and regulate aggregate operations in the province, is updated with stronger protections.
“All applications to take water must be subject to robust environmental impact studies,” Arlene Slocombe, Executive Director of Wellington Water Watchers, said.
“It is too late once negative impacts to local drinking water are experienced and, arguably, these are the current conditions in Puslinch,” she said.
The Reform Gravel Mining Coalition (RGMC) believes there is a better way to mine gravel. Their Municipal Action Plan is a handbook for residents to work with their councillors on how to strengthen bylaws for aggregate extraction.
Until there are more robust protections for our wetlands, drinking water, and water tables, the RGMC is calling for a moratorium on all new gravel mining approvals in Ontario.
In the words of Arlene Slocombe, “money isn’t life, but water is life and needs to be prioritized as such.”
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