The Société de Conservation et d’Aménagement du Bassin de la Rivière Châteauguay (OBV SCABRIC) has called on the Quebec government to launch a public hearing, or BAPE, focusing on groundwater shortages and regional water management.
With the support of around 40 municipal and water organizations, the members of the SCABRIC’s regional consultation table for watershed management sent a letter on June 5 to Quebec’s premier, Christine Frechette, as well as the province’s environment minister, Pascale Déry, that outlines the urgent need for a collective discussion on the water shortages facing the Montérégie and other regions.
The letter is signed by OBV SCABRIC president Daniel Pilon, as well as Lise Michaud, the mayor of Mercier and prefect of the MRC de Roussillon, and Catherine Fournier, the mayor of Longueuil and chair of the Table de Concertation Régionale de la Montérégie (TCRM). Co-signatories include several regional watershed management organizations, environmental councils, and water conservation groups.
“We are calling on the government to take action, as the water shortage directly affects more than 40 per cent of the population in the Châteauguay integrated water-management zone, which relies on groundwater as a source of drinking water, as well as all agricultural producers in the region,” said Pilon.
“This is an extremely important issue,” he said, noting the watershed organization has been working on this file since last November. “Obviously, we will see where this goes, but it is important to understand that a BAPE is not an end in itself. It’s a start, and we need to see where it takes us,” he explained.
Pilon is hopeful this will bring different water organizations together so they can pool ideas and look for solutions. “The findings are clear and straightforward: we have a problem with water scarcity. It’s not getting better; it’s getting worse,” he said. “It feels like we are sweeping the problem under the rug, but we need to talk about it now while it is still manageable!” he exclaimed.
The letter highlights the findings of the SCABRIC’s water master plans, which identified groundwater availability as a major problem as early as 2015. By the time the 2024 version was published, it was quite clear that groundwater is being consumed at an unsustainable rate.
This trend is being exacerbated by agricultural drainage that accelerates water runoff, as well as the sealing of urban soils by impermeable materials like concrete or asphalt that prevent water infiltration. Aquifers recharge more slowly as a result. Climate change is also amplifying groundwater scarcity as rivers experience more frequent flooding as well as low-water periods brought on by droughts.
Pilon, Michaud and Fournier point out that while the province has put in place structured measures to govern water, create watershed organizations, adopt a national water policy, and implement planning tools, these regulations all suffer from a lack of reliable indicators to better understand the cumulative effects of water use.
They argue that a BAPE would allow for an independent and credible assessment of the current situation. This would be informed by experts and members of the public who rely on groundwater, which they suggest could lay the groundwork for more equitable and sustainable water management.
Bethany Lee, a founder and spokesperson for the Protect our Water Source action group in Hinchinbrooke, applauds the move by the OBV SCABRIC. While the local group is not an official signatory to the letter, she says members will be “lining up to express our concerns in a united effort to protect the aquifer under Powerscourt from continued exploitation.” She noted that people can support this initiative by calling or writing their local elected officials to speak out in favour of a public hearing.
Pilon said he hopes the government will act quickly. “The river is asking us to do this, and I think it’s important,” he remarked. “Water isn’t an inexhaustible resource.”