Ontario prioritizes community water needs to bottled water firms

The Canadian Press recently reported on Nestle’s purchase of a well near Elora from a privately owned company.

The reports said that Premier Kathleen Wynne felt that her government had other greater priorities than the bottled water corporations.

"As we look at the water bottling industry, that has to be a question because we're talking about what we could argue is our most precious resource," she said.  "There is much pressure on our water, so as we have this discussion about our water, the status of and the treatment of water bottling companies, that needs to be taken into consideration," the media quoted Wynne as saying.

Kelly Linton, Mayor of the Township of Centre, Wellington, commented that the proposal to purchase the well was to safeguard its water supply from commercializing it and have the community control their water source, said reports.

Linton’s plan was contradicted by the New Democrats who were of the opinion that the corporation’s pumping out water for sale across Canada and beyond was unethical while a community faced shortage of water, reports said.

According to reports, New Democrats’ opinion was supported by NDP environment critic Peter Tabuns who said, "The danger is you'll have private companies squatting on water rights, effectively denying citizens access to their water unless they pay a ransom."

Wynne was concerned about the safety and security of the water bottling procedures in the event of climate changes, and the increasing demands on water resources by a growing population.

She told reporters that water bottling companies should be treated differently from other sectors like water-taking permits, including mining and construction.

Nestle, which employed about 2,500 employees in Ontario, stated said it was prepared to pay more if rates were increased, provided all groundwater users equitably pay their share to fund the management, said the reports,.

Wynne was reported to have stated that the environment minister with support of the finance minister should look into pricing options for water used by the bottled water industry. She also made clear that bottled water companies pay more for the water they would take.

Meanwhile, according to reports, Nestle has been allowed to take up to 3.6 million litres of water a day for bottling from its well in Aberfoyle, near Guelph, Ontario.

The Wynne government had neither granted a renewal, nor an approval to Nestle for a pump test to determine water quantity and quality at the Middlebrook well, till a decision was taken on the review of water taking permits, media reported.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)