Back to the drawing board for water supply plans

Norfolk Mayor Amy Martin.

Luke Edwards

Grant Haven Media

Given the current state of provincial and federal funding, Norfolk’s inter urban water supply project seems like it’s becoming a bit of a pipe dream.

Staff weren’t ready to fully give up on the idea that upper levels of government would provide the required two-thirds funding benchmark the county set to start phase one of the IUWS project, however they acknowledge it’s time to make other plans.

“We’re now in a position where we can no longer sit and wait,” said Andrew Grice, general manager of public works.

Staff presented a report at the July 8 council-in-committee meeting recommending councillors allow them to begin looking for alternatives and spending $350,000 from the IUWS engineering capital project to fund those investigations.

Currently, Norfolk operates five drinking water systems that supply safe drinking water to the various parts of the county. Since 2021, the county has had a plan to develop a distribution system that connects the county’s urban centres with the Nanticoke Water Treatment Plant in Haldimand. But with a huge price tag - most recent estimates have it at $450 million - council also passed a stipulation in 2023 that said Phase 1 could only begin when they secured 66 per cent funding from upper levels of government.

“Is this a concession that inter urban water is not going to happen?” asked Coun. Adam Veri.

“Based on the condition set by council of needing the 66 per cent to bring the program forward, we are looking at alternative options,” Grice responded.

“We don’t see any program in our near future that is going to provide that order of magnitude, but things change.”

The staff report said Phase 1 of the project has an estimated $140 million price tag, meaning they would need to secure $92.4 million in funding from the province and/or federal government. 

There was a time when projects would be funded through a one-third cost-sharing model between the three levels of government. And while she said she wasn’t aware of any official change, Mayor Amy Martin said those commitments no longer appear to be on the table.

“It’s a shame that we’ve developed a plan from the guidance of the province that’s so expensive that the province can’t fund it. But the reality is we’ve also set a benchmark of one-third, one-third, one-third funding that isn’t even a funding model that exists with the provincial and federal government anymore,” she said.

“So it really is time to go back to the drawing board and see what we can do.”