A group representing local greenhouse growers wants to see them be able to take water straight out of Lake Erie, and municipal officials would love it if that were to happen.
Despite being in agreement on that matter, both sides are at odds.
In a previously published report, Richard Lee, executive director of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG), said group members in Chatham-Kent and Windsor-Essex are frustrated with a lack of investment in water infrastructure in the region.
He spoke out about high development fees that have led to a pause on greenhouse construction in Chatham-Kent, and claimed he had not been in contact with anyone from the municipality in the better part of a year.
Bruce McAllister, general manager of community development for Chatham-Kent, begged to differ.
He said development charges implemented by the Public Utilities Commission last year led to the OGVG appealing them, taking the issue to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
“Through discussions, there was one initial Tribunal call in November. We agreed we’d certainly be open to explore potential settlement discussions outside the Tribunal,” McAllister said. “We’re waiting on them.”
He added a stakeholder group was established with various greenhouse owners. There was an initial meeting in November involving municipal staff as well.
“Mr. Lee was there,” McAllister said.
The Chatham Voice sought out Lee for comment, however, calls were not returned.
A private water line feeding greenhouses would circumvent some of the development charges, asserted Lee, again in a previously published report. McAllister agreed.
“We’re looking at opportunities to investigate alternative solutions. We don’t need to provide greenhouses with fully treated water through the (water) treatment plants. They don’t need chlorinated water,” he said.
However, Gary Wheeler, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, said one cannot simply slide a pipe into a water source and begin pulling large quantities of water out of it. In Ontario, by law, you must have a permit if you plan to take 50,000 litres or more of water in a day from the environment.
And when seeking to take water from a Great Lake, one must adhere to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement.
Greenhouses are thirsty productions.
Darren Galbraith, general manager of the PUC, said when a 100-acre greenhouse is operating in the middle of the summer months, it can use 2.8 megalitres of water in a single day.
“In comparison, 4,900 homes would use that amount per day. That’s not people, that’s homes,” he stressed. “They (greenhouse operations) use a massive amount of water, and rightfully so.”
There are more than 500 acres of greenhouses in Chatham-Kent.
Hacienda North Farms just east of Wheatley is one local greenhouse that has a permit to draw water directly from Lake Erie. It’s a 160-acre operation.
“They put in their own water intake. They had to go through the permitting process with the province.,”McAllister said. “They do have their own treatment facility.”
Galbraith said he’d like to see it so greenhouses could get off the treated water grid.
“They don’t need it (water) so refined. They need it cleaned up. They need a little bit of filtration,” he said. “It would take the strain off our systems at the end of the day.”
He added that it makes financial sense for greenhouse operators as well. Getting away from treated water and using their own system would eliminate development charges for water.
Galbraith said he understands where the growers are coming from.
“The ultimate goal of greenhouses is food security for North America. These greenhouses in Chatham-Kent and Leamington are a big part of that.”
In the meantime, McAllister said he expects both sides to continue to talk.
