Users must pay
Ontario is blessed with a large share of the world’s fresh-water supply. But that doesn’t mean the provincial government can afford to mismanage or undervalue it.
But that is precisely what Ontario is doing, according to a highly critical report from the province’s acting environmental commissioner. In it, Ellen Schwartzel paints a picture of a priceless resource that is being polluted, depleted and given away to industrial and commercial users — at a huge cost to taxpayers.
Even “the Great Lakes are headed for a crisis,” Schwartzel warns, citing unsafe bacteria levels, declining native species, and, most disturbingly, receding water levels. Her report describes more worrisome water level issues in smaller eco-systems, such as parts of the Grand River watershed and the East Holland River.
Her urgent prescriptions: more money for management of the water systems, a user-pay system to force conservation, and further study on why water levels are declining. Environment Minister Glen Murray should immediately act on her recommendations.
Of particular concern is the fact that the government is not recovering the full cost of its water programs from users — not only discouraging conservation, but hitting taxpayers hard.
For example, the government spends $16.2 million on water quantity management programs, but recovers only 1.2 per cent of that from users. Most industries get a “total free ride,” notes the acting commissioner. The few industries that do pay are charged only $3.71 for every million litres of water they take. That’s the equivalent of paying $10 for enough water to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool.
Indeed, only seven industries actually pay for the water, including water bottlers, beverage manufacturers, cement makers, and chemical manufacturers. That’s because the water they take out of the water systems is not returned to those systems.
Other users, such as golf courses and farms, get a free ride because they are supposed to return the water they take back into the eco-system they took it from. That doesn’t always happen. Water in vegetables and fruits can be shipped out of the country, never mind the eco-system. And water that is returned by users, such as golf courses, may be polluted with pesticides that must be cleaned out at taxpayer expense.
“We can no longer take our province’s water supplies for granted,” Schwartzel warns. She is right. Ontario should start on her to-do list right away by making users pay their full share.