A Well of Uncertainty | The Press

Water scarcity isn’t just in Arizona or Nevada. The village of Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly, in Chaudière-Appalaches, lacks so much blue gold that it is preparing to expropriate a farm in order to dig a well there to supply the locality. A decision opposed by the family of farmers who own it and which raises several questions.

“It’s still a large amount that [nous] missing, launches Richard Bellemare, the mayor of the village of 1700 inhabitants. If there is a fire or even if someone wants to take a shower, there is not enough water. »

Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly is able to provide 673 m^⁠3 of water per day. During consumption peaks, demand reaches up to 1100 m^⁠3. The municipality must sometimes import water, by tank truck, from Quebec City, which is 40 km away. Nothing in 2022, but the previous year eight deliveries were needed.

However, the Saint-Laurent runs alongside the small village, one of the most beautiful in Quebec. But there is a problem: the municipality cannot draw from this place because it dumps its waste water there, says the mayor. The water is not of good enough quality and pumping and treating it would cost tens of millions of dollars. “This drawback is not present when drawing groundwater,” says Mr. Bellemare.

To have access to subsidies from the Ministry of Housing, the municipality works in parallel to clean up its waste water and find drinking water to meet its needs. Between 2006 and 2014, 15 trenches and 10 exploratory drillings were carried out.

“All this research has made it possible to find a single well that would provide water of good quality and in good quantity,” drops Mr. Bellemare, in a telephone interview.

This water source is directly under the land of the Marijoli family farm, which raises oxen, pigs and chickens in order to sell meat and eggs on the farm and in markets.

“It’s quite a story! It would create a precedent,” explains Denis Paquet, president of the Union des producteurs agricole (UPA) of Lotbinière-Nord, who fears that the case of Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly will open the door to other towns would like to expropriate farms for their water.

Producer-owners Véronique Letendre and Jérôme Lizotte received an offer to purchase the plot of land around the well last March. Half of their sugar bush would become municipal if the project materializes.

“What shocks me is that they don’t take into consideration the loss of value of my land. The well is not at the bottom of the field. It is in front of the field, 45 m from my house, ”denounces the woman who is raising five children (soon to be six) on the farm. She adds that the City would have had the opportunity to acquire the coveted lot, since the farm was on sale for nearly two years, between 2013 and 2015, before the Letendre-Lizotte couple bought it.

What worries the Marijoli farm above all is that the authorities will want to protect the water to avoid contamination. The two producers already know that they will have to move their barn at their own expense 100 m from the well, because it is used as a storage facility for pesticides.

But other questions remain unanswered, says Véronique Letendre. Does the water source cross the farm? she wonders. “We persist with the municipality […]. They say it doesn’t change anything, but the Environment, them, are they going to allow us to have cows if the source passes? [sous la ferme] ? she asks herself.

“My cows, they are outside full time, even in winter. Will I be asked to keep them in the barn? […]. If I put pigs 30m from the well, will they really tell me it’s okay? “, she adds, while remaining hopeful that the municipality will find a new solution.

“Sacrifice a Farm”

The Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec (CPTAQ) must decide by the fall on the zoning change requested by the municipality. The UPA is categorically opposed to the well project and sent an unfavorable opinion to the CPTAQ.

The Rivières Foundation also wonders about the distribution of water consumption in Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly: 44% of the precious resource is actually used by the Bergeron cheese dairy.

Also, given the flow of the river, the village could very well draw its water from it by stretching a pipe offshore, the organization maintains. But this solution would cost more than expropriating a farm, agrees André Bélanger, Executive Director of the Foundation.

“The decision that was made was to sacrifice a farm. It’s a choice. But is this choice sustainable? “, he wonders.

And if the lack of water is so glaring in Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly, the village must give up on real estate development, argues André Bélanger. As did Saint-Lin–Laurentides, which proved to be a precursor in this area, a year ago.