St-Lazare testing 3 well sites within la Pinère for quality
St-Lazare is preparing to test water quality and groundwater levels at three well sites located within la Pinère, a forested 205-hectare conservation area popular with hikers, cross-country skiers and the local equestrian community. St-Lazare communications director Geneviève Hamel said the town wants to diversify its sources of water to ensure the town continues to have enough water for its growing population, and to provide a backup in the event that one of the current wells becomes contaminated or dry. “All the wells are good and we have plenty of water. But we have to plan ahead, and in the eventuality that we ever have a situation where one of our wells goes down we need to have other options,” she said. St-Lazare’s water is supplied by several wells on its territory. Three aqueducts, Ste-Angélique, Saddlebrook and St-Louis, provide water to houses connected to the public system, while other residents maintain their own private wells. The three wells within la Pinère are located near Parc nature Les-Forestiers-de-St-Lazare on Chemin Lotbinière. According to Hamel, they were established in 2011, but the wells require further testing and development before they can be connected to the town’s water system. A brief pumping test was done in 2014, however, the results were inconclusive. The town is now moving forward with a hydrogeological study to clarify the 2014 results before earmarking further funds to permanently develop these wells. City crews recently started testing by continuously pumping groundwater from the rock aquifer from all three wells over a period of 60 days. Three generators will be used to ensure adequate pumping for the duration of the testing period, and a truck will be circulating daily to power the generators. The water will be piped to sandy areas nearby where it will be reabsorbed into the soil. Once the pumping tests are complete, the town will compare the quality of the water and the possible rise of water table levels to the water in previously selected private and public wells. The town itself is acting as the main contractor for the project. Hamel said results of the study will be compiled and presented to town council early next year to inform their decision whether or not to proceed with developing one or more of the wells. “The whole thing is to make sure that this is a good spot, that this is a good long-term solution,” she said. “…Before we invest $3- to $4 million into developing new wells, we want to make sure this is a good long-term solution.” Some hiking and equestrian trails in St-Lazare will be closed to the public for the duration of the testing. Signs will be posted, and the town says it will do everything in its power to minimize the inconvenience to trail users.