On May 14th, 2010, Council was informed by the Town’s Technical Services Director that well no. 3 was pumping sand which forced us to put it out of service. Turning off this well, which supplies the water treatment plant and ultimately the Sainte-Angélique aqueduct network, has for effect to reduce by 20% the amount of raw water that could be treated for consumption.

This 20 % drop may sound insignificant to most of us and wouldn’t be an issue during winter months, but is considered critical during the summer months because of the huge outdoor consumption we make of it to water lawns, gardens and fill pools (a single 21 foot pool requires 51,200 litres of water, the equivalent of 320 loads of laundry). In anticipation of a warm long weekend, and in order to prevent any further depletion of our water supply, I authorized a ban on the outdoor use of water distributed by the Town’s aqueduct system. This decision was not easy to take given the Victoria Day weekend is a traditional weekend for planting, gardening and filling of pools, but was necessary to ensure we all have sufficient water in our homes for our daily indoor usage. Let’s note the Sainte-Angélique aqueduct network, which is targeted by the ban, supplies 75 % of the population with drinking water.

Council inherited the legacy of a town that has grown rapidly, and whose infrastructures are suited for a village rather than a town our size. The Town Council, having a long term vision, must take action now in order to provide high quality services to its community. Such unpredictable and unforeseeable circumstances, such as the one that occurred for well no. 3, make the city vulnerable, which is unacceptable. We must therefore remedy the situation urgently and invest in long term solutions.

This being said, and to eliminate any underlying vulnerability, Council has proceeded with recommendations made by the Technical services Department, which means that we are:

1.	prioritizing the upgrade of the water filtration plant;
2.	obtaining without any further delay the authorization from the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks to hook up well no. 8 to the water treatment plant by putting additional political pressure;
3.	granting the contract to built a new well no.3;

To help bridge the gap in the meantime:

1.	we are asking you to not use water distributed by the Town’s municipal aqueduct network for any outdoor purpose;
2.	we installed a larger more powerful pump on well no. 5 to increase the pumping volume of the raw water to the limit allowed on the exploitation permit delivered by the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks;

In addition, and to avoid any other such water usage interruption during summer, Council has put a freeze on development in certain areas of Saint-Lazare until the urban plan is modified to take these issues and objectives into account. Planning water demands ahead of time is essential.

In the best case scenario, we expect to be able to lift the ban within 14 days of receiving the Ministry’s authorization to connect the well no.8 to the water filtration plant.

Because the steps taken will not resolve the crisis overnight, it will have an impact on us. We are aware of the frustration the ban may cause and we understand this is not just a nuisance to you. We are doing everything in our power to resolve the crisis as soon as possible and have set the wheels in motion to provide you with higher sustainable service levels. We hope we can count on everyone’s support, cooperation and patience, until the crisis is resolved.

I would like to reassure residents that the crisis, both immediate and in medium term, relates strictly to the water’s volume and not to the water’s safety.