Water, Water Everywhere

The independent review of municipal water systems being undertaken by the Province has the City’s Chief Financial Officer going through box after box of H2 pencils. His counterparts in Callander, Powassan, East Ferris and towns as far south as Burk’s Falls are also punching the keys of their calculators. And they are all finding that it is going to cost them (us) more money.

It seems the Walkerton disaster has not been forgotten, and fuelled by the problems in Kashechewan, drinking water safety is not about to be put to simmer on the back burner any time soon. The mayors of our region are going to have to face the reality that it is going to cost more to ensure the safety of our water. If they can collectively save hundreds of thousands of dollars by bringing the administration of the systems under one roof, then maybe it is time for them to widen their thinking.

North Bay reportedly has a very effective and efficient water system that is well managed. The city pumps clean water from Trout Lake, adds a few poisons and chemicals, household and industrial waste, takes most of the ugly stuff out of the water and pumps the remainder into Lake Nipissing. Unlike South River who seems to have to have a boil-water advisory every time a water main breaks and the system loses pressure, North Bay’s system hardly ever breaks or loses pressure. Perhaps we should be sharing our technology with our neighbours.

Mayor Fedeli is certain that the taxpayers of North Bay will be subsidizing the people in the surrounding area, and he may be correct. However, the fact remains that it is these very people who are ‘subsidizing’ North Bay taxpayers every time they come to the city to shop or use services found only in our commercial hub. With a stagnating population base of around 55,000 people, we could never support a single box store or even the mall(s). We depend very much on our neighbours. Most of our professional people could not maintain their offices without the clients from the surrounding areas.

Similarly, the people living in the rural areas would find it much less enjoyable if they could not access the services of the bigger city that is within easy driving distance. While many of us still drive to Sudbury or Barrie to shop, we rely on our own commercial centre for most of our goods and services. If this whole region is to grow and prosper, we need to do it together in a spirit of cooperation. If we want to create jobs for our young people, we need to grow and create more demand – perhaps for water-quality specialists as a start.

We have seen fit to centralize the education, health and social services under Boards in North Bay. Why not take the initiative and begin looking at other possibilities before the pencil pushers in Toronto do it for us? We have no problem joining forces to help fund the soon-to-be-built Regional Health Centre. Is not water a health issue that we could address on a regional issue as well?

The Lake Nipissing Stewardship is a joint effort to preserve or sustain the fishery in a lake that touches the municipal boundaries of many of the townships affected by the water study. Tourism and vacation home taxation in this whole area relies so much on our water systems, both natural and managed, that we ought to be looking at the broader picture.

In an area spotted with beautiful lakes, we are intent on marketing them for our visitors and potential businesses. We must maintain this quality of water, not only for drinking, to keep this prized resource in as pristine condition as possible. Without trained people to run our water purification and disposal plants in the cities and towns, we stand the chance of spoiling our own backyard.

Any doubt about the importance or value of our lakes is quickly dispelled when we see North Bay council trying to sell Otter Lake. Ostensibly, they are selling the lake to subsidize playgrounds somewhere else in the city. Maybe that is the answer for the surrounding municipalities – sell off some lakes to pay for your water systems. There might even be someone out there who would like to own a whole lake for themselves as their own private playground.

On the other hand, who knows, perhaps someday we may be selling our northern water in plastic bottles to people around the world who do not have potable water. Of course, there may be some regulations to follow about safe water that those people down south seem intent on enforcing and imposing on us.