Nestlé water bottling operations raise fears about future water shortages in Ontario
World Water Day was marked on March 22. This year’s theme, “Leaving
no one behind,” is adopted from a central promise of the UN’s 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development, which states that “as sustainable
development progresses, everyone must benefit.”It’s a message that should resonate with Ontarians after Premier Doug Ford’s closed-door meeting
with representatives of a China-owned company last fall over plans to
extract 1.6 million litres a day from an aquifer in Guelph/Eramosa
Township for its glass operations. That was after the
municipal government had already rejected the plans on environmental
grounds.It’s also where non-profit Wellington Water Watchers (WWW) has been staving off attempts by bottled water giant Nestlé to tap into local aquifers for its water-bottling operations in Aberfoyle.
The former Liberal government placed a moratorium on all future takings in 2016. The Ford government extended that for one year in
2018 “to further advance the ministry’s understanding of the water
resources in the province, with a particular focus on groundwater
takings by water bottling facilities.” But that ban runs out in January
2020, when applications for existing permits can proceed again.