Firm denies wrongdoing in Virden aquifer lawsuit, says town failed to follow report recommendations

The Virden water tower is pictured on Feb. 24, 2026. A Winnipeg-based consulting firm is denying wrongdoing in a lawsuit alleging its recommendations led to the failure of the town's water supply system in fall 2025. (Jeff Keele/CTV News Winnipeg)

A consulting firm hired to find the Town of Virden an alternate groundwater source is denying wrongdoing in a water supply lawsuit, saying any losses the town suffered resulted from its own failure to follow the firm’s recommendations.

In a statement of claim filed in February, Virden alleges it had been struggling with water quality issues from its aquifer that were difficult to treat, prompting the town to enter into an agreement with the Manitoba Water Services Board in 2019 for a groundwater supply investigation.

Winnipeg-based W.L. Gibbons and Associates Inc. was retained to carry out the work and in August 2020 issued a report recommending the town draw water from a new location known as the Leask Aquifer, according to the lawsuit.

The filing says the Leask water supply system became operational in July 2021 but began showing “signs of distress” under normal pumping conditions before allegedly failing in fall 2025 due to declining water levels.

In a statement of defence filed last week, the firm and its senior geological engineer Stephen Wiecek deny liability, saying they met all industry and professional standards and fulfilled their duties. They allege the Town of Virden and the Government of Manitoba failed to follow the recommendations set out in the 2020 report.

Older aquifer ‘integral part of the project’

The statement of defence says the report noted the Leask Aquifer “may only have the potential to provide the town with a partial supply of water” and that the existing 1992 aquifer “may be necessary to supplement the supply.”

Maintaining the wells for the older aquifer was described in the report as an “integral part of the project,” the filing says.

The report also flagged concerns about the long-term sustainability of large groundwater withdrawals from the Leask Aquifer, noting that water levels observed during testing were likely near historical lows comparable to drought conditions. It said long-term monitoring was required to confirm its findings, along with an annual report assessing the sustainability of withdrawal rates.

Ongoing groundwater monitoring was needed to watch for signs of adverse declining trends, the filing says, along with an annual report assessing the long-term sustainability of withdrawal rates relative to recorded water level trends.

According to the filing, neither the town nor the Manitoba Water Services Board implemented the required monitoring or sustainability assessments, and maintenance requirements of the older aquifer’s wells were not carried out until late 2025.

The statement of defence also says that prior to issuing the 2020 report, the firm provided the water services board with preliminary reports stating the Leask Aquifer could “only be used as a supplementary water source” and that the older aquifer must be used alongside any additional source.

Reminders to town for two years: lawsuit

“In and around November 2022, [the firm] reminded the town of the monitoring requirements and the maintenance requirements, and reiterated the need to utilize the 1992 aquifer in conjunction with the Leask Aquifer,” reads the statement of defence.

It claims the firm continued to remind the town of those requirements until about November 2024.

The statement of defence says the firm denies representing to the town that the Leask Aquifer and its supply system would suffice as Virden’s water source, adding that the decision to design and implement the system rested with the town, the water services board and their third-party consultants.

If any losses were suffered by the town, they were “caused or contributed by the negligence” of the town and the Government of Manitoba by failing to follow the recommendations set out in the 2020 report, the filing states.

The eight-page document also names the Government of Manitoba in a crossclaim, arguing that if the firm is found liable, the province should be required to contribute to or fully indemnify any resulting damages.

The firm is seeking dismissal of the claim with costs.

The Manitoba Water Services Board, a provincial Crown corporation, was established in 1972 to provide water and sewer infrastructure to rural Manitoba.

Emergency well approved in October

According to the province’s environmental assessment and licensing registry, the town was granted approval on June 22, 2021 for two new supply wells, along with two existing wells located approximately 1.5 kilometres to the south designated as backup sources.

However, a letter from then-CAO Rhonda Stewart to the Environmental Approvals Branch, dated Oct. 10, 2025, requested emergency approval to install a new supply well.

The letter states the Leask Aquifer did not have the capacity to sustain the town’s water needs “past a few weeks, if not days,” and that a hydrological engineer had recommended the town immediately return to its previous aquifer until a new, sustainable source with good quality could be located and brought into production.

“Finding that location and installing the necessary infrastructure could take anywhere from several months to years,” the letter reads.

Stewart also wrote that the existing backup wells were in “poor condition,” with one having a damaged screen that would cause problems for the water treatment plant. The town requested that a new well be drilled as a replacement, noting two functioning wells are needed to meet treatment plant demand and maintain supply if one goes down.

An order in council dated Oct. 15, 2025, granted the minister of environment and climate change authority to approve the installation and operation of a replacement well for a two-year period, bypassing the standard approval process under the Environmental Act.

The town has since transitioned to its previous aquifer, according to a notice posted on its website. However, the untreated water is known to contain arsenic levels approximately five times the federal guideline, which is based on a lifetime exposure of 70 years.

The town’s website says the water treatment plant is reducing arsenic levels by about 40 per cent, though treated water still contains arsenic between two and three times the federal guideline.

A water quality advisory was issued in October 2025 and remains in effect.

In a statement to CTV News, CAO Niel Smith says the town “continues to work diligently” on reducing arsenic levels.

“Health Canada recommends that to minimize health risks, every effort should be made to keep arsenic levels in drinking water as low as possible,” the town’s website reads. “Recommendations for consumers include reducing the amount of water that you consume from this source.”

The town’s statement of claim puts the budget for the groundwater supply investigation at $350,000 and the cost of transitioning to the Leask Aquifer at $3 million, with the town taking on loans to cover half and the Manitoba Water Services Board covering the remainder.

Virden had a population of just over 3,100 in 2021, according to Statistics Canada.

The Government of Manitoba, named as a co-defendant in the suit, has not yet filed a statement of defence and declined to comment. The town also declined to comment directly on the lawsuit.

None of the claims have been tested in court.