Metroland Series: Crisis on Georgian Bay Part 3

Mayors look to premier, PM to lead
Governments urged to take action, but potential solutions to falling water levels won’t come cheap
Oshawa This Week June 2 2013
If there is any common ground when it comes to addressing low water levels in Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, it’s that it’ll take a boatload of money.
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With the Canadian government having received the long-awaited advice from the International Joint Commission (IJC) on how to address low water levels in the Great Lakes, all eyes are now on Ottawa and Queen’s Park.
The IJC advised that Canada and the United States look at structural options to increase water levels in Lakes Michigan and Huron by 13 to 25 centimetres. The Canadian government is expected to respond to the report.
“The Government of Canada will be issuing soon their official response,” Simcoe-Grey MP Kellie Leitch said after meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird on April 29.
Baird is handling the file because of the required collaboration with the United States. His office did not respond to a request for an interview.
There was a nod to low water levels in the proposed 2013 federal budget, but there was no dollar value attached.
“It shows the prime minister has been listening and understands that this is an exceptionally important issue in our region,” said Leitch. “It has to be addressed, so I was delighted to see this outline in the budget in very clear form, and that there would be action taken on it.”
A group of Georgian Bay mayors certainly hopes that is the case. In a “casebook” laying out the economic impact of lower water levels, the mayors said “many businesses and residents will simply not survive to see any long-term solution.”
Twenty-four of 44 Georgian Bay municipalities weighed in for the casebook. They reported water levels are affecting 68 marinas and 76 other businesses, as well as 31 government facilities, including municipal water systems, coast guard stations and the MS Chi-Cheemaun ferry.
It is estimated cottagers will spend $500 million to extend and repair docks and water systems, and the negative impact on local economies is pegged between $50 million to $100 million.
“It’s great to have this long-term discussion, but we need to do something for 2013. We have our summer season upon us,” said Midland Mayor Gord McKay.
The mayors want a streamlining of the system required to get permits for dredging, blasting, dock repairs and other quick fixes, and they want $20 million – half each from the federal and provincial governments – to help cover the cost of the work.
Penetanguishene Mayor Gerry Marshall said municipal officials have met with both the NDP and Progressive Conservative caucuses, but have had less luck with the ruling Liberals.
“During the recent Liberal leadership campaign, I brought this issue directly to the attention of many of the leadership contenders, including Premier Kathleen Wynne herself and (Finance) Minister Charles Sousa and Minister of Infrastructure Glen Murray,” he said.
It’s imperative that Wynne spearheads an economic relief program, said Marshall, adding the premier then needs to engage with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama to find a solution.
“The leaders have to lead on this issue,” he said, estimating up to 700 jobs are at stake across the region.
“If we closed a factory that was losing 700 jobs, politicians would be lined up for photos handing out cheques, but, because the jobs are spread across the Georgian Bay shoreline, they are being ignored,” the mayor said.
Simcoe-Grey MPP Jim Wilson said he agrees the province must come up with funds for this “emergency.”
“The provincial government is going to have to step up to the plate or we’re going to have a miserable economic condition all along the shoreline,” Wilson said. “We have immediate problems.”
He suggested there is emergency money built-in to the budget that he would like to see go to the mayors’ initiative.
However, government officials at all levels remain cautious so as to not cause problems while trying to find a solution. There is also some uncertainty about where the money for restorative measures and short-term solutions will originate.
“Not to diminish anxiety, but both governments have a responsibility to make sure taxpayers’ money is spent wisely,” said Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton. “When you make some kind of physical intervention to change a water regime, it has consequences both upstream and downstream.”
MPs will be meeting to discuss the government’s next steps. The mayors’ group is planning a public information session at the Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound on June 13 to provide information on their work and to gather more data to support their case for immediate aid from the federal and provincial governments.
“We need to gather more input from BIAs and chambers of commerce about the negative economic impact low water levels are having on local communities,” said The Blue Mountains Mayor Ellen Anderson. “We need to compile more financial data to make our case.”
In Thornbury, which is part of The Blue Mountains, the municipality has budgeted $200,000 to dredge the harbour so boats can continue to use the marina.
Anderson said if the water continues to drop, they may have to extend the water intake line into deeper water, which would cost between $6 million and $10 million.
“Right now, the treatment plant is having to deal with extra turbidity due to the low water, which increases the need and cost of purification of drinking water,” she said. “The cost, when you look at it collectively around the bay, is going to be astronomical.”
Wasaga Beach’s main industry is tourism, but access to the Nottawasaga River this summer is uncertain, and tourists aren’t expected to flock to the beach the way they used to.
“Less people are going to visit Beaches 3, 4, 5 and 6. I think that’s indicative of the numbers that the (Ministry of Natural Resources) reported last year. We had a great summer, but it’s nowhere near the numbers we had 10 years ago,” said Mayor Cal Patterson.
Patterson, who is also warden of Simcoe County, said municipalities that take water from Georgian Bay are also struggling. For example, Tay Township is almost at the point where it will have to extend its water intake farther into the bay at an estimated cost between $4 million and $6 million.
In Midland, boats can only come into the harbour at half-load, and a number of marinas are in trouble. There are also reportedly increased dangers for boaters who cannot seek shelter in Collingwood Harbour because the water is too shallow.
The Township of the Archipelago, near Parry Sound, is being hit hard, too. It estimates the monetary impact of low water levels at $2.5 million. Of 353 Archipelago residents surveyed, 75 per cent need to modify their docks, 29 per cent require new docks, and 25 per cent need to dredge or blast.
Tom Barrett is the mayor of Milwaukee, Wisc. He also serves as chairperson of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, an organization of municipalities from across the Great Lakes basin.
“We have contacted leaders in both countries, relating to water levels in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan,” he said. “It’s an issue that’s going to require more attention on both sides of the border. We know the IJC is interested in the adaptive management plan and it’s taking the lead on that. Is adaptation enough? I don’t think it is.”
The proposed United States budget includes $63 million for Great Lakes projects run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to address water levels, including $13 million to dredge seven harbours.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has signed into law a $21-million plan to dredge 58 harbours and bays around the state. Nothing similar is in place in Ontario.
Unanimity is lacking when it comes to possible solutions to falling water levels. Lana Pollack, the IJC’s U.S. section chair, did not sign the IJC report because of the lack of emphasis placed on climate change and adaptive management strategies.
She also objected to raising false hopes that placing structures in the St. Clair River would be enough to resolve the problem.
“Ultimately, we have a responsibility to our two countries to assist them in protecting the diverse interests dependent on the Great Lakes by addressing the long-term impacts of climate change caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” wrote Pollack in an addendum to the report.
David Sweetnam is executive director of Georgian Bay Forever, an organization founded in 2004 that focuses on water levels, wetlands, invasive species and water quality.
Sweetnam said the organization also disagrees with the IJC’s focus on corrective measures in the St. Clair River. The group supports a 2012 Upper Great Lakes Study Board report that suggested a structure to control water levels also be built in the Niagara River.
“If all we were talking about was the impact of previous dredging and erosion, then the St. Clair River mitigation solutions, you might be able to implement those and have an impact,” he said. “The erosion that occurred only accounts for four inches of the water drop and there is over 21 inches we’ve got to account for.”
He said a structure in the Niagara, combined with two other structures already in place, would slow the flow out of Lake Erie, which would then slow the flow in the Detroit River and thus keep more water in Lakes Michigan and Huron.
“It sounds a little counterintuitive. When we saw that in the report, it was kind of out-of-the-box thinking,” he said. “For years, our organization was one of the organizations that looked at St. Clair.”
Sweetnam said he doesn’t know the cost of the structure, but estimates it would be in the low billions of dollars. He said the economy around the Great Lakes is about $5.1 trillion, so the structure would be a sound investment.
However, Sweetnam added he doesn’t think corrective measures will solve the problem permanently.
“The idea of a multi-lake approach to regulating the Great Lakes is something we’ve been pushing them to promote,” he said.
“It’s a position that is gathering an incredible amount of steam. This is a chaotic system, but now, in recent years, we are seeing severe impacts from changes in climate patterns.
“The models looking forward, we are going to see a continued downward pressure on water levels.”
Sweetnam said his organization is currently developing an economic impact study for the entire Great Lakes region.
“(It’s) the missing piece of the puzzle to drive the governments to take actions,” he said. “They are just not aware of what the costs of sitting around and doing nothing are.”
Council of Canadians national chairperson Maude Barlow is currently on a seven-stop speaking tour calling for the Great Lakes to be recognized as a common good to be shared, protected and enjoyed by all who live around them. Falling water levels is among the acknowledged threats to water as a human right, she said. Barlow and her group want governments to recognize the ecological rights of the watershed, to agree that private interests are subordinate to community rights, and to acknowledge that governments have an obligation to manage and protect the Great Lakes in consultation with First Nations.
“The Great Lakes of North America are in serious trouble,” Barlow said. “Industrial pollution, climate change, over-extraction, invasive species and wetland loss are all taking their toll on the watershed that provides life and livelihood to more than 40 million people and thousands of species that live around it.”