Recently the Guelph Tribune’s front page story was “City-Wide water ban kicks in”. The title is self explanatory. It was reported that people have respected the ban and have done a “good job conserving water over the summer.” One reason for the ban is low river flows. However, just a few pages into the same newspaper edition, Doug Hallet reported that Nestle draws 3.6 billion litres of water a day from Wellington County (the same county as Guelph). Nestle has requested an extension to be allowed to continue pumping water in order to bottle it and sell it. Their current permit has been extended, indefinitely, until its decided to renew their permit. This time not for two years, but five. And when will this decision be made as to whether or not Nestle is still allowed to pump our water? No one knows. The reason for the delay in the decision is the election, so after election is the earliest guess for a decision timeline.
Another reason for the delay on the decision to renew Nestle’s permit is because its believed, but not proven, that Nestle is draining water from the nearby rivers and creeks. They want to find out for sure if Nestle is contributing to the drain before a decision on their permit is made, and until then, Nestle can pump away. This rationale is the exact same as ‘shoot first, ask questions later’. The report investigating this won’t likely be available until the winter, so that’s my guess as to when the decision on Nestle’s renewal will be made, at the earliest. Until then, keep on pumpin’ Nestle...
Very recently Nestle has cut its water capacity, but only by 20%. My concern is though, in light of resident’s ban on water, why is a corporation allowed to still pump water at those resident’s expense, and only for the corporation to sell it back to those people? And why is Nestle allowed to take the water for free, when a resident would be charged for the same amount of the same water?
Canada has yet to sign the UN decloration that water is a human right, in light of the fact that Canada has one of the biggest fresh water reserves in the world. I guess the fear is that if it signs it, we might have to share the water with everyone worldwide if ever need be. So the reasoning is that Canada should look out Canadians first in such a crisis. So why are we selling out our water supplies if we value it so much?
Recommend this Post
2 comments:
Because there isnt a lack of water there may be a lack of holding resevoirs and processing capacity for the water in event of fire`. Gielph did not have chlorinated water or holding capacity required by the province after Walkerton. Since GUelph`s water comes from an artesian well it has absolutely nothing to do with river levels or even rain fall ion the area. Guelph is a bit fucked, sorry it is and the current council is filled with self righteous morrons who know very little about what they are discussing especially when it comes to the "environment".
The ban is because more people water their lawns when its dry and reduce the ability of the fire department to access water in event of fire. Even in somewhere like Fergus where water is taken from the river for domestic use it is put right back after its processed. Even water sprinnkled on lawns will find its way back to the river. Watering bans have nothing to do with river levels and everything to do with resevoir capacity.
You're a moron if you say you care about the water issue, and then continue to support Liz... if you really cared about water here in Guelph, you'd vote for Polley or Mann-Bowers.
Post a Comment