New coalition calls for more groundwater, farmland protection

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More protection is needed to safeguard ground water and farmland across the Grand River watershed, a newly formed advocacy group says.

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“The Grand River watershed is one of the few areas in the world that is solely dependent on ground water,” Kevin Thomason, of the Green Belt West Coalition, says. “Protection of the land and water is essential to our survival.

“We’re not like Toronto or some other areas that can dip a straw into a Great Lake and draw water with little regard.”

Thomason, a resident of Wilmot in Waterloo Region, is the vice-chair of the Grand River Environmental Network, one of many grassroots organizations from across the watershed that make up the coalition. Better Land Trust, Better Brant, Langford Conservancy, all Brant-based organizations, are part of the coalition.

Other groups include: Wellington Water Watchers; Protect Our Moraine; Concerned Citizens of Pushlinch and Hike Ontario

The coalition called on the province to enlarge its proposed Greenbelt expansion at a December news conference.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing says the provincial government is taking a balanced approach that protects the environment while supporting smart growth to create much-needed housing and jobs.

The provincial government, in its 2020 and 2021 budgets, committed to protecting and expanding the Greenbelt as one of the province’s greatest natural and agricultural resources, the spokesperson said.

Created in 2005, the Greenbelt protects watersheds, farmland, forests, and wetlands from future development and expanding it will allow communities to benefit from this cherished resource, the spokesperson said.

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At present, the Greenbelt covers more than 800,000 hectares in the Golden Horseshoe area including the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Niagara Escarpment. In early 2021, the provincial government announced a consultation process to gather feedback on how best to grow or expand the existing Greenbelt.

The government’s proposal includes protection for the Paris-Galt Moraine, a glacial deposit of loose sediment and rock that extends from Erin, in Wellington County, to Paris. The moraine is a source of groundwater.

But Thomason says what has been proposed so far doesn’t come close to what’s needed.

Specifically, the coalition wants 532,000 hectares of land to be protected – 10 times the amount proposed by the government.

The coalition wants the lands surrounding the Grand River watershed, as far north as Dundalk and reaching all the way south to Lake Erie, to be protected including Brantford, Brant and Norfolk.

“The Greenbelt, as it now stands, protects the parts of the Grand River watershed that are in Hamilton,” Ella Haley, a Brant conservation and environmentalist, said. “Does it not make more sense to have the entire Grand River watershed protected.

“We want to see the headwaters and streams protected.”

As well, the coalition says under-the-water-table aggregate extraction should not be allowed in the greenbelt. And development in the Haldimand Tract, identified as unceded territory by the coalition, should be minimized until Indigenous land claims are resolved.

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“We’re in a climate emergency,” Thomason says. “We see lots of growth and development happening but our question is where’s the balance and how do we ensure development is being done in a cohesive fashion.”

The ministry spokesperson says the province held a 61-day consultation to grow the greenbelt and received more than 6,150 comments from municipalities, stakeholders, Indigenous communities and the public indicating strong support for growing and protecting the Greenbelt.

“We look forward to sharing our next steps,” the spokesperson said.

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