Water bottling policies get another look from province

TORONTO Ontario is proposing to effectively give municipalities veto power over new water bottling permits and set new rules and priorities for taking groundwater.

The planned changes come three years after the former Liberal government enacted a moratorium on new and expanded permits to take water for bottling.

It came after bottled water giant Nestle purchased a well near Guelph that the Township of Centre Wellington wanted for its future drinking water supply.

In addition to extending the moratorium, the Progressive Conservatives commissioned a third-party review on Ontario’s water-taking, which found the current approach sustainable — and that water-takings for bottling have “negligible” impacts on supply — but suggested other ways to manage water when supplies are limited.

“We can’t take our water for granted — it is a vital resource for our health and well-being, and to the way of life we all enjoy,” Environment Minister Jeff Yurek said in a statement.

“Ontarians can be confident our water resources are protected by good policy based on solid science and evidence, but we must always be prepared to adapt.”

One of the proposals for changes to the rules is to require companies looking for a new or increased permit to take water for the purpose of bottling it to get support from the municipality.

The government is also suggesting to set priorities for water-taking, when water is in short supply and there are competing demands.

Proposed highest priority uses would be drinking water and environmental uses such as maintaining stream flows, then agricultural irrigation. They would be followed by industrial and commercial uses — such as golf course irrigation and aggregate washing — then others such as esthetic and other non-essential uses.

The proposal is getting plaudits from some environmental advocates, who had been pressing the government for years to strengthen the policies.