SaveOurWater.CA

This November, we at Save Our Water were proud to support a petition to the Government of Canada to include plastic water bottles on the list of single-use plastics to be phased out permanently in 2021. This petition was initiated by a resident of Centre Wellington and remains open for signatures until March 5, 2021: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details. #yearinreview Original caption: There is a petition circulating, initiated by a resident of Centre Wellington, calling for the Government of Canada to include plastic water bottles on the list of single use plastics to be phased out in 2021. Have you signed it yet?

October was a busy month! On October 6, the Ontario government announced a proposed amendment to the Ontario Water Resources Act that would give local host municipalities the opportunity to veto permits to take water for commercial water bottling. While this was welcome news, especially for a community like ours, the government got one thing wrong: The threshold for vetoing a permit to take water is 379,000 litres per day. This threshold is higher than the 50,000 litres per d...ay requirement for a Permit to Take Water, and it is slightly over half of what one of our wells pumps in a day. #yearinreview Original caption: The Ontario government yesterday announced a proposed amendment to the Ontario Water Resources Act that would give local host municipalities more direct input on allowing bottled water companies to withdraw new or increased amounts of groundwater in their communities. The amendment states that if a local host municipal council objects to the proposed water taking, an application for a permit to take water would not be able to proceed". For more information on the proposal, visit http://www.saveourwater.ca/po/the-power-to-veto-new-permits.

Perspective. Our #StandWithUs campaign captured a wide variety of viewpoints in our community and has catalogued a number of reasons for opposing a permit to take water at Middlebrook. Consider the magnitude of the volume of water that would be trucked out of Centre Wellington if a permit were granted at Middlebrook. 1.6 million litres gone. Every. Single. Day. That’s enough water for 2 years worth of brewing EVERY DAY. #yearinreview Original caption: One batch of beer requires roughly 6000L @elorabrewingcompany. In ONE day, Nestlé would take 1.6 million litres. That's 2 years worth of brewing! #StandWithUs to protect our local businesses and our community's groundwater!

This October, Jeff Yurek (the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks) attended a (physically distanced) meeting in the CW Council chambers with Mayor Kelly Linton, CAO Andy Goldie, MPP Ted Arnott and his assistant, Judy Brownrigg, along with Jan Beveridge and Donna McCaw from Save Our Water. While it remains to be seen exactly how the proposed changes to the Ontario Water Resources Act will impact the Middlebrook Well and ultimately our community’s water supply, this... visit was an indication that the Province is listening to our concerns. We must continue to stand together as a community and voice our collective opposition to large-scale commercial water taking for bottling. #yearinreview Original caption: It was great to meet and chat with Jeff Yurek, Mayor Kelly Linton, and Ted Arnott today in #CentreWellington. We had a good productive discussion and we look forward to working together to #SaveOurWater.

Our #StandWithUs campaign saw individuals and businesses alike speaking up and voicing their opposition to bottled water. Consider that the production and transportation of bottled water contributes to a carbon footprint that is hundreds to thousands of times greater than that of tap water. #yearinreview Original caption: Adding to the voices speaking out to help protect our community's future water supply and saying NO to a permit at Middlebrook. We must continue to speak up and voice our concerns. #WeAreNotDoneYet #StandWithUs #SaveOurWater