Waterloo Region looks to fast-track water capacity-related plans

Waterloo Region wants to get the water flowing for future developments. CTV’s Heather Senoran tells us what council is doing to make that happen.

One day after the Region of Waterloo announced additional water capacity had been unlocked in the Mannheim Service Area, plans are shifting into overdrive to get stalled developments moving again.

On Tuesday, officials announced they had added 10 litres per second of new water capacity, available immediately, and another 20 litres per second was expected to come online in the fall. It helped ease months of worries that began when the region identified a looming capacity shortage that could have meant there wouldn’t enough water in the Mannheim Service Area by 2051.

• TIMELINE: Water capacity concerns in Waterloo Region

On Wednesday, at a special regional council meeting, a motion to cut bureaucratic red tape was approved while another motion considered the feasibility of building two major water-related projects two years ahead of schedule.

Cutting red tape

Council approved a motion granting the region’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) the temporary authority to bypass the standard competitive procurement process. The move gives the CAO a green light to push water capacity projects forward faster.

The decision to bypass public bidding wars sparked debate.

One councillor said it could be seen as controversial.

“Do you have a competitive bid, and/or do you just pick the person or the organization or the company?” said Regional Councillor Colleen James, after the meeting. “So, I wanted to raise that to be like, this is a process that could have bias in it when we go to sole source it.”

The motion that was approved was initially slated to remain in place until the end of 2028. However, following pushback from councillors who argued that timeframe was too long given the upcoming municipal election, council amended the expiration date.

“I’m satisfied with the way that council did go in the end, which was to move the date to June 2027,” Regional Councillor Natasha Salonen said.

Could two projects be fast-tracked?

Council also approved a motion brought forward by Councillor Dorothy McCabe. It asked staff investigate the feasibility of moving the design and construction timelines for two big projects, the Maple Grove Water Treatment Plant and the Cambridge Booster Pumping Station, up by two years, from 2028/2029 to 2026/2027.

McCabe noted the study would, “help council understand whether these projects are actually ready to proceed, what the financial implications might be, what risks and benefits could be involved, and what decisions would be required if an acceleration is possible.”

If approved, design and construction work could begin as early as the end of the year.

Some regional councillors remain cautious.

“There’s a fine balance between needing to move quickly, but also needing to be prudent,” Salonen said. “And I think affordability is a huge key that we really need to consider here of affordability of our residents, especially because water and wastewater is not the only thing that we pay for as a regional tax base.”

Regional Chair Karen Redman said they will be looking beyond taxpayers to foot the bill.

“We have used an urgent lens and looking at solving a problem that needed to be dealt with immediately. That all came at a cost,” Redman said. “I am not in any way complacent about going to other levels of government to ask for funding.”

The fast-tracked feasibility study is scheduled to return to regional council by the end of August.