Rural water supplies and wells are running empty

A summer of low rainfall has left private well users in the Ottawa area looking for water solutions. CTV’s Tyler Fleming reports.

After one of the driest summers in recent memory, shallow wells across parts of eastern Ontario are running dry, forcing some rural residents to truck in water just to keep taps flowing.

In Navan On., Ottawa’s rural east side, resident Lucie Lavallée says her surface well has been empty for weeks.

“We’ve had it refilled three times already,” she said.

“It’s a surface well, so it can be topped up by water trucks. Each fill can cost hundreds of dollars.”

Since September, Lavallée says she has been careful with water use.

“We’ve only done laundry twice this month,” Lavallée said.

“But we’re constantly conserving water so much that it’s affected our septic system because there wasn’t enough water to bring down the waste.”

The unusually dry conditions extend across the region. South Nation Conservation has declared a Level 3 Low Water Advisory, warning that groundwater and surface water supplies are critically low after months with little rainfall.

In late August, the City of Ottawa urged private well users to conserve water, citing extreme dry conditions and low-water warnings issued by all three local conservation authorities, Mississippi Valley, South Nation, and Rideau Valley.

The city says municipal water systems and the Ottawa River remain stable, but groundwater levels have dropped, leaving rural residents vulnerable.

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A notice posted to the city’s website says wells are the sole responsibility of the property owner, adding that it cannot enforce restrictions on private wells. However, the city encourages residents to limit non-essential use as a goodwill measure to protect their neighbours’ supply.

Even some well owners, with deeper drilled wells not affected by the drought, are taking precautions.

Rick McAteer, a Navan resident, says he wants to do his part in protecting the water table. That means he may have to skip flooding his large outdoor hockey rink.

“It’s going to be our 20th anniversary this season,” he said.

“But if we don’t get heavy fall rain in the next month, I don’t think I’ll be able to do it. We’re following what has been instructed by the community and being mindful of everyone around us and so we’ll probably take a break this year, unfortunately.”

Russ Keenan, owner of Russ Keenan Enterprises Inc., whose company specializes in supplying potable water, says it has been an unprecedented year of drought.

“We’ve never experienced this before in 26 years of being in business,” he said.

“Dairy farms have been especially impacted because of their water consumption whether it’s washing their equipment or watering the herd.”

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Kennan says two 15,000 litre trucks have been working seven days a week, topping up shallow wells around the region, along with larger potable water container for those whose deeper, drilled wells have run lower.

“This is getting to a point now, where the water table has dropped considerably so we would need substantial rain, like all day rain, for multiple days,” he said.

“If the weather continues like we had in August and if we don’t get substantial rain through the fall and if we don’t get a January thaw, we would be going back to those same wells in January and based on what we’re seeing now that’s what we’re planning for.”

Heading into fall, experts note the only real fix is steady, soaking rainfall over several weeks to allow water to infiltrate the soil and rebuild groundwater levels before the ground freezes. Keenan says if that doesn’t happen, he expects to keep delivering water to wells, well into the winter months.