SHERBROOKE – Nearly a year after drought left many residents relying on emergency bottled water, two Guysborough County municipalities are shifting their focus from emergency response to long-term water security as they prepare for another potentially dry summer.
At separate June 17 meetings, councils in the Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s and the Municipality of the District of Guysborough reviewed drought preparedness measures ranging from drilled and community wells to emergency water distribution, grant funding and public education aimed at helping residents prepare for water shortages.
In St. Mary’s, Coun. Emma Tibbo asked staff for an update on the municipality’s proposed drilled well, noting council had hoped to move the project forward this year following last summer’s drought.
Chief administrative officer Lesley McFarlane said staff are focusing the municipality’s application to the province’s Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund on the project and are working with provincial officials to strengthen the submission.
“We think that we’ll be needing a hydrological study,” McFarlane told council. “We have $60,000 budgeted ... so we are focused on seeing if we can get the new grant funding for this.”
MacFarlane said the municipality also wants to help residents adapt to recurring dry conditions rather than simply responding when emergencies arise.
“Water resilience is something that we want to be supporting the community to understand,” she said, pointing to longer-term measures such as drilled wells, cisterns and water delivery services. “We’re hoping that we don’t have a drought again this year, but working towards preparing at the same time.”
Coun. Scott Beaver said the discussion reinforced the importance of community wells if drought becomes a recurring reality.
“We can’t expect people to just go buy a cistern,” he said. “I think that highlights the importance of community wells ... being able to help our citizens with such an important thing as drinking water.”
Deputy Warden Beulah Malloy said provincial officials told municipal leaders during the recent Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities conference in Yarmouth that the province would not repeat last year’s bottled-water assistance program.
“The government did tell us when we were at NSFM in Yarmouth that they were not going to be doing what they did last year,” she said. “They weren’t doing it anymore.”
In Guysborough, council approved a short-term drought response framework that will allow staff to activate a program similar to last year’s emergency bottled-water distribution if drought conditions reach established thresholds. Staff said the plan includes changes intended to address challenges encountered during last year’s response, but noted the municipality would now be responsible for funding the program because provincial financial support is no longer available.
Council also approved moving ahead with applications under the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund for a proposed $700,000 community well program. Staff said the proposal includes six community wells, associated treatment and fill stations for potable water, and one bulk fill station. The municipality would be responsible for 40 per cent of project costs, with up to 10 per cent eligible as in-kind contributions. Funding decisions are expected in the fall.
Deputy Warden Janet Peitzsche, who moved approval of the municipality’s short-term drought response plan, said council’s priority remained clear.
“We have to look after our residents.”
