Of course I'm referring to the long proposed Pipeline from the Green Lagoon otherwise known as Lake Erie. Is there anybody who doesn't know about the prevalence of toxic blue-green algae on the surface of our smallest and shallowest Great Lake? Today's K-W Record has an article by Bill Jackson titled "Waterloo Region's pipeline possibility". For me having lived for almost a decade in West Montrose it's almost emblematic of the long threatened West Montrose Dam. At one time that was the bogeyman that hung over local residents wondering how badly their beautiful valley, covered bridge and lush farm fields would be destroyed.
Darn but you know the old saying that for a carpenter all problems can be solved with a hammer and for an engineer if it's not broken then you simply haven't built it yet. Build it and when it breaks fix it sort of attitude. Today's Record interviews both a former public works director as well as Kevin Thomason, vise-chair of the Grand River Environmental Network (GREN). Both are smart individuals but with totally different approaches to Waterloo Region's Water Crisis. Mr. Anderson with a public works background is very big on class environmental assessments. It almost seems to me that he views the Class EA process as somewhat magical and without bias. Being from Elmira I've lived through a few Environmental Assessments now and I can tell you that depending on many factors they can and are manipulated beyond belief. He who is paying the shot calls the tune and that's exactly what has happened here with two very local Environmental Assessments.
Mr. Thomason of GREN however does not believe that blasting right of ways and cutting through forests and farm fields is the best way to solve our alleged water problems. He lists numerous less invasive and less expensive options in this article that can be done right here in Waterloo Region versus taking water from Lake Erie.
Alleged water problems is an interesting turn of phrase. We the public are still waiting for documentation that either proves or disproves the alleged low water levels in our major aquifers such as the Waterloo Moraine. Also it is rather convenient how often dishonest politicians such as our Woolwich Township mayor invent a crisis in order to implement a totally asinine solution as was done in 2015 . Chemtura and the Ministry of Environment (MOE/MECP) were crying about the new vigorous and informed Chemtura Public Advisory Committee (CPAC) holding them to account and failing to treat them with the deference and reverence that they were used to.
Is it possible that this water crisis has been invented to push the multi billion dollar engineering solution of a Lake Erie Pipeline? Or is the crisis real? Maybe it could be part of each? Maybe we are currently in trouble but the fixes are right here within the Region's boundaries as suggested by Mr. Thomason.
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