SHAMROCK, P.E.I. — A new holding pond under construction near Kinkora drew a crowd Wednesday as members of the Coalition for Protection of P.E.I. Water held a news conference to voice opposition to the project.
At issue are revisions to the P.E.I. Water Act concerning high-capacity wells that were passed in 2017 but still not formally proclaimed. In the meantime, there has been a moratorium on new high-capacity wells while existing wells are still in use.
The new Shamrock pond falls outside the moratorium as it is shallow. Farmers Austin Roberts and Andrew Lawless, who are building the pond, say they have followed all regulations.
Coalition members at the gathering Wednesday, however, say the protection of the Island's water is at stake.
“We thought it was important to alert everyone about this massive holding pond being built, that is one of many turning up on the Island as a way of getting around the moratorium on high capacity wells,” said Coalition for Protection of P.E.I. Water member Catherine O’Brien within view of the new pond.
“We have a moratorium on high capacity wells that is long-standing, the government has regulations that they developed supporting that moratorium and recognizing that these holding ponds can be used as a way of getting around the moratorium," added member Don Mazer.
Douglas Campbell, a district director of the National Farmers Union, also spoke at the media conference.
“The National Farmers Union, for 40 years, has been talking about the land issue on P.E.I., and the land protection act,” said Campbell. “You can’t talk about the land without water being connected to it because they both go hand in hand.
“People have to realize that they may not see the land as an issue for them, but everybody is impacted by water. That’s a big reason for being here.”
Issue statement
Roberts and Lawless, who are lifelong farmers and members of P.E.I.’s agriculture community, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon indicating this project is theirs alone. There are two regular low flow wells attached to this project.
“The goal of this project is to direct rain and runoff to flow over the land and run into the pond over the year so it may be used for irrigation of our cropland during a few weeks in the summer when rainfall is insufficient,” read the statement.
Roberts and Lawless employed consultants and engineers in the project’s design and the statement noted it meets or exceeds all provincial guidelines.
“All of the water captured will be naturally filtered and returned to the environment in a controlled manner,” continued the statement.
Roberts and Lawless said this project will ensure the least possible impact on the environment and will drastically reduce the need to use groundwater for irrigation. The release goes on to say that if this pond was in place during Hurricane Dorian last fall, enough water would have been captured to fill half the pond in one rainfall while also preventing erosion from the runoff.
Write premier
The Coalition for the Protection of P.E.I. Water has requested a meeting with Premier Dennis King and Minister of Environment, Water and Climate Change Natalie Jameson to discuss “serious concerns about the lack of protection for P.E.I. water that stems from the unregulated development of holding ponds for agriculture.”
The Water Act was passed in 2017 but still has not been formally proclaimed.
“The government needs to take whatever time they feel they need to take to proclaim the water act, but that time cannot be used as an opportunity for the development of things that are clearly contrary to the spirit of the water act,” said Mazer, who also suggested an idea of licencing and registering all wells on P.E.I.
“So we can know who is using the water,” continued Mazer. “This is a common good, it is a public resource, it belongs to all of us and it’s related to the well-being of all of us. It deserves a transparent process, where we would have the right to know.”
Building concern
O’Brien said one concern the coalition has is to grandfather in holding ponds already constructed once the Water Act is proclaimed.
“These are not cheap to build, this is a lot of money,” said O’Brien. “If a farmer is going to do this and knows once the act is proclaimed they won’t be allowed to operate it, why would they spend that money?
“My concern is have they been given a guarantee that they will be grandfathered in and they will be able to keep operating the holding ponds. Therefore, a lot more farmers will be trying to build them quickly. That’s a very big concern for us.”
Asked if there was an alternative to building holding ponds, Campbell answered concentration on organic matter and proper rotation of the land.
“Getting away from mono agriculture and reliance on that sort of industrialized agriculture because that is hard on the soil,” said Campbell. “It impacts organic matter and then that impacts the amount of water the land can retain, therefore being able to produce a crop.”
Roberts and Lawless said they hope the public will consider that sustainable agriculture projects are needed.
“This project has been undertaken with forethought, research and great care for the environment.”
