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Minister pledges a halt to holding pond construction

STU NEATBY SALTWIRE NETWORK stu.neatby@theguardian.pe.ca @PEIGuardian

P.E.I.’s environment minister has moved to halt construction of holding ponds in advance of enacting the longawaited Water Act in June.

Speaking before the legislature on April 27, Steven Myers said cabinet had issued an order in council that would halt construction of “multiple low-capacity wells that could act as a high-capacity well.”

Myers also said the order was issued after consultation with the P.E.I. Watershed Alliance, as well as the P.E.I. Potato Board and the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture.

“Through consultation with them over the last number of months, there was concern that there might be a number of holding ponds that could be built in advance of the Water Act being proclaimed on June 16,” Myers said.

The Opposition Greens had also raised concern about the prospect of holding ponds being constructed in advance of passage of the Water Act.

“I find this a positive announcement,” said Green environment critic Lynne Lund. “We’ve been calling on it for a year, Mr. Speaker.”

The order does not apply to construction of new wells where the water is used for potable water supplies for people or livestock.

It comes into effect weeks before Myers is set to enact the Water Act, which was originally passed more than three years ago. Regulations released earlier this year will allow farms to “grandfather in” already existing holding ponds, even if the combined amount of water they draw is more than a high-capacity well.

There has been a moratorium on the construction of high-capacity wells since 2002 due to concerns about water usage.

In an interview after question period, Myers denied that the order was issued in response to criticism from the Green Opposition. He contrasted the importance of the input he had received from the P.E.I. Watershed Alliance with the Opposition.

“The Green Party, they’re against everything. They just don’t want farmers to survive here on Prince Edward Island,” Myers said. “The Watershed Alliance brings life to our streams and rivers, they brought fish back to our streams and rivers.”

Myers also said his department is currently working on an irrigation strategy, and that experts in his department had all the necessary data on the capacity of watersheds on P.E.I.

Lund said the delay in issuing the order to stop holding pond construction may have had harmful effects on the Dunk watershed specifically, in East Prince.

“In the area around the Dunk, we know there has been 16 new holding ponds at a minimum that have already gone in or are under construction currently” over the last year, Lund said.

Lund also said an irrigation strategy was needed to govern water usage in P.E.I. But she said she has not yet seen evidence that there is sufficient data about how much water is being used in sensitive watersheds like the Dunk.

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2021-05-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://saltwire.pressreader.com/article/281629603136781

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