Water research centre would investigate county’s unique natural purification processes

By Kate Harries – AWARE Simcoe – May 24, 2011

The scientist who identified the unique quality of the groundwater in the Site 41 area made a pitch today to Simcoe County Council on his idea for a world-class water research and innovation centre.

“The first question is – how and why did Simcoe County come to have the gold standard in water quality,” said Dr. William Shotyk of the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Heidelberg, after detailing his findings following 20 years of testing the water at his family farm in Springwater Township, just south of Site 41 in Tiny Township.

The water turned out to be cleaner than Arctic ice cores and was adopted as the reference water for a study of container contamination of bottled waters carried out at the institute.

Shotyk, who first outlined the concept for a water centre to the county’s performance management committee two months ago, said much interest has been expressed from a wide variety of government and academic institutions.

As a scientist, Shotyk said he wants to understand how it is that, in this location, nature does such a great job of cleansing the water of all the pollutants that are deposited through agricultural and industrial practices.

The project would have three key goals – safeguarding the “gold standard,” working out how this “natural purity” can be replicated commercially, and making Simcoe County a “well of knowledge” for research, innovation and sustainability.

“The question is how to leverage the assets that are here,” he told councillors. “The focus has to be soil and water – protecting and maintaining the gold standard.”

The site includes “disturbed” land where construction of landfill infrastructure took place before public pressure forced termination of the project in August, 2009, and two agricultural parcels where Shotyk envisions research into innovative agricultural practices that would harness First Nations knowledge, including cultivation of biopharmaceuticals (like Canada yew, a source of drugs to treat cancer).

Among those who endorse Shotyk’s vision is Dr. Peter Dillon, Chair of the Water Quality Centre, Trent University, and one of Canada’s leading aquatic scientists.

A letter from Dillon was part of a package of endorsements distributed to county councillors.

“The exceptional quality of the groundwater at this site makes it an ideal laboratory for aquatic research,” Dillon writes. “We would be more than willing to help with the development and planning of the proposed centre, and in participating in the centre.”

Dillon adds that Shotyk’s ideas for alternate agricultural technologies fit in with a new degree program in sustainable agriculture that Trent is introducing this fall.

“In summary, I think that your plan is visionary.”

Letters of support were also received from Ontario Farmland Trust, the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority, the Water School, the Wye Marsh, the United Nations University Institute of Water, Environment and Health, and the Vineland Innovation and Research Centre.

Shotyk’s presentation drew enthusiastic applause from about 50 people in the public gallery. Reaction from councillors was mixed.

While Tay Mayor Scott Warnock complimented Shotyk on work done developing the concept since he first presented it two months ago to the county’s performance management committee, others were more cautious.

Midland Mayor Gord McKay noted that Shotyk had received positive feedback from a number of ministries – but that doesn’t necessarily translate into results. “What was the nature of their commitments?” he asked.

Shotyk said that, with the help of Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop, he’d met with Ontario’s Research and Innovation Minister Glenn Murray, who was “very enthusiastic,” and undertook to assist in accessing economic development funds.

Ramara Mayor Bill Duffy wanted to know how Simcoe County would “get our money back” in terms of the millions that were sunk into the dump project.

Springwater Deputy Mayor Dan McLean asked how long it would take to determine who the partners would be, if Simcoe County were to consider participation by contributing the land.  

Shotyk said it would take a year to fine-tune the concept, and another year to develop a business plan. He suggested the County lease the farmland during that time, thus retaining the asset and the option of selling it.

Clearview Mayor Ken Ferguson had a different concern – that the project might compete with efforts he’s been working on for a year for an agricultural program at Georgian College’s new South Georgian Bay campus in Collingwood.  “I’m worried about the funding aspect,” he said, “that at some point it’s either that or this.”

Collingwood Mayor Sandra Cooper agreed. There’s great excitement about the new campus, she said. “I wouldn’t want to detract from that… We want to stay the course with our education opportunities.”

Shotyk said the projects should not compete. In the Site 41 area, “we have a water filtration process that we don’t understand that’s creating water without compare – this is the focus of our research.”

He explained that the agricultural component arises from the fact that it’s the soil that’s doing the filtration, so the research would be into the best uses of the soil while it’s protecting the water.

At his presentation to performance management in March, Shotyk mentioned the potential for a “Silicon Valley” of water research. It’s a notion that has real potential, Elmvale Water Festival director Dr. Michael Powell said after the meeting.

In fact, the water innovation and research centre would create opportunities for Georgian College students to work with world-class scientists, said Powell, an international environmental consultant.