Roblin Lake

Council reaffirms decision to bar water taking by livestock farmers from Roblin’s Lake

Update: Until water restrictions are lifted, the municipality is attempting to install a temporary bulk water dispensing station on the Consecon and Carrying Place system to serve the northwest part of the County. It is expected to be operational soon. Another dispensing unit is expected to be in service in Wellington in about three weeks.

When council imposed water restrictions earlier this month, it knew barring livestock farmers from taking water from Roblin Lake would cause hardship for some. Several councillors pleaded for an exemption for these farmers. But the first-ever Level 3 drought conditions has lowered lake levels and the County’s waterworks officials argued they had a provincially mandated responsibility to protect the water source for the residents on the municipal system.

Council approved the temporary restrictions over the objections of a minority of councillors.

Last week, they attempted to put the issue back on the table. They had new information and the council chambers’ gallery was wellpopulated with farmers and other folks keenly interested in the outcome of the issue.

But to reconsider the decision required a two-thirds vote in favour. It is a rule to prevent council from undermining its own decision-making. The vote fell short. Council refused to re-open the debate.

Had they done so, they would have learned that Quinte Conservation representatives didn’t agree with their decision to bar farmers from taking water from Roblin Lake—that in their opinion, water use for livestock is an essential use.

In his prepared deputation, John Thompson, president of the Prince Edward Federation of Agriculture—a presentation he was not permitted to give—wrote that the original debate and decision was too rushed and missing some key information.

In it, he refers to an email from Terry Murphy, manager of Quinte Conservation, in which he generally agrees with the actions taken by the municipality in response to drought conditions, but “QC did not recommend the restrictions that were put on watertaking from the lake. It is my opinion that using water to keep livestock alive is an essential use,” wrote Murphy in the quoted email.

Thompson also quoted Quinte Conservation water resource manager Christine Mc- Clure confirming that livestock watering is considered essential. He noted, too, that sending farmers farther afield to draw water with tractors and barrels represented a hazard on County roads.

Thompson suggested that the impact of farmers taking water from Roblin Lake was overstated. By his calculations, the sum total of water drawn for livestock amounts to just over half a millimetre per week. As to the disruption to the lake bottom—he suggested boaters and trailers have a much greater impact than do farmer’s taking water.

But Thompson didn’t get a chance to make these arguments. While 11 councillors were in favour of reopening the debate last Tuesday, they fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed. So that was it. The pews emptied and council moved onto other business.

It is not at all certain, however, that another debate would have changed the outcome. County waterworks managers are answerable to provincial authorities. It has only been 15 years since water officials went to jail for neglecting this responsibility. It seems unlikely County waterworks folks would pin their liability exposure on the opinions of Quinte Conservation staff.

It seems just as remote a possibility that a majority of council would compel its officials to do something they feel might risk drinking water safety.

In any event, the question never got on the table.