Pure water, naturally

By Kate Harries AWARE Simcoe March 15 2011

Simcoe County councillors responded warmly last week to a presentation by Dr. William Shotyk of the University of Heidelberg for a water innovation centre of excellence at Site 41 in Tiny Township.

“This would be a living laboratory,” Shotyk told members of the county’s performance management committee last Thursday. 

. “We’re talking about a kind of Silicon Valley of water,” he explained, detailing the possibilities around Simcoe County’s most remarkable environmental phenomenon: pure water, achieved naturally.

Shotyk is no newcomer to the area. A professor of geochemistry, he owns a farm in Springwater, near Site 41 in Tiny, and has been testing the area’s artesian wells for 20 years. About a decade ago, to his astonishment, he found this water to be cleaner than 4,000-year-old Arctic ice cores. Dating tests show it is young, “dirty” rainwater from about 30 years ago – so what has happened is that it is filtered “to perfection” by Mother Nature.

Now, Shotyk is proposing that the Elmvale Foundation partner with Simcoe County in a research and education facility at Site 41, to build on the research to date, as well as on the local agricultural expertise and First Nations knowledge.

 “We’re talking unique, we’re talking innovative and we’re talking world-class,” said Shotyk, who is a leading expert in the study of trace metals in the environment.

Councillors were receptive. 

“I think this has real exciting potential,” Deputy Warden Harry Hughes said.

Tay Mayor Scott Warnock welcomed Shotyk’s plan. “Some of the ideas that you have put out today I find very exciting,” Warnock said, “and I look forward  to moving through this process.”

 “The quality of this water really is remarkable,” Shotyk stressed. So, he told councillors, the $64,000-question is, “How does Mother Nature filter our water to such purity?”

The answer could be vital in a world where 1 billion people are without reliable drinking water.

Shotyk has already worked to highlight the importance of the water resource in North Simcoe. He is president of the Elmvale Foundation, which hosts the annual Elmvale Water Festival. He has established the Elmvale Groundwater Observatory, where the exceptionally clean groundwater is monitored under exceptionally clean conditions. 

The vision he presented to the committee is for a new facility focused on research into the water cycle, but also working with local farmers to incorporate innovative ideas in agriculture as well as drawing on the knowledge of the area’s First Nations people.

“Today we have a kind of water ‘Utopia’ and we wish to better understand the how and why of the purification process, as well as its significance and possible applications,” Shotyk said in an email to Simcoe County Council. 

At the committee meeting, Innisfil Deputy Mayor Dan Davidson referred to a letter the committee has received from John Bacher, and Danny Beaton of the Mohawk Turtle Clan, suggesting that Site 41 be turned into a tract of the Simcoe County Forest.

Would such an idea be compatible with Shotyk’s plan, Davidson asked.

Shotyk said he endorsed the plan 100 per cent. “There is more than enough land there.” Agro-forestry – which could include the production of ginseng – is an important element of his proposal, he said, noting the potential of medicinal plants known to First Nations, like Canada yew, used in the treatment of certain cancers, and North American ginseng, a valuable crop that grows in maple bush.

Working in such areas can increase biodiversity as well as producing a revenue stream, he said.

Shotyk said that Simcoe County’s contribution could be through the donation of land – either with matching funds from other levels of government, or through a 99-year lease. The benefit to the county would be in taking a leadership role in water quality, renewable energy, agricultural innovation and environmental stewardship.

Shotyk said he also anticipates partnership with universities and colleges as well as the private sector and non-governmental organizations.

The committee approved a motion from Warden Cal Patterson that staff report on Shotyk’s proposal. 

Shotyk said that he will start working on a business plan. Both MP Bruce Stanton and MPP Garfield Dunlop have expressed support, he told the committee, and there is the possibility of obtaining funding under Ontario’s Water Opportunities Act.