CBC News - As water sources dry up, towns in southern Quebec sound the alarm

CBC News is again highlighting the vulnerability of Canada’s water resources. This latest article focuses on the dwindling availability of groundwater in Southern Quebec, and the pressure that it is placing on farmer’s and municipal planners.

One really nice aspect of this article is that it discusses the lack of data available to municipalities as they plan for the future, the urgent need for accurate modelling, and the difficulty of commissioning holistic water resource studies/modelling at the municipal level (i.e. cost). Fortunately, Canada1Water will provide a baseline understanding of water resources for communities across the country, and how the water resources situation will change in the coming decades. The project will also provide a framework (and all the data necessary) for further studies at the municipal level. The pricing threshold is dropping for further integrated hydrologic modelling at high resolution to help communities across Canada.

Click here to read the article.

“I think the water supply is an issue that we’ve kind of taken for granted,” - dairy farmer Rachel Mahannah

”We need to figure it out. If we have this problem now, what is it going to be like in the years to come?” - Francis Dorion, assistant director general of Brome-Missisquoi municipality

The town [of Sutton] is seeing Girard’s problem on a much larger scale, with a significant decrease in the spring runoff it depends on to fill its reservoirs. In the last few summers, creek beds have run dry. The Sutton River, which meanders through the village, was down to a trickle last July and August. “This is a big warning about the longevity of the water table,” said Sutton Mayor Robert Benoît.

Last month, Brome-Missisquoi officials met Quebec Environment Ministry experts to discuss the [municipality’s] water woes. “They don’t have any miracle solutions,” said Dorion. The big stumbling block is a lack of data. Better modelling needs to be done, but that costs money. Still, if municipalities are to know what to do next, they need accurate information. “We don’t want to improvise,” Dorion said.”