North-East (NE) Chatham-Kent Water Distribution System (MCEA)

Notice of Completion 

At this time, a Project File Report has been completed to document the Class EA process, which identifies the preferred solution and design concepts for Northeast Water Distribution System. Please click on the document link below to view the Project File.

Project File – MCEA for the Northeast Water Distribution System

Interested persons may provide written comments to our project team by June 19^th, 2023. All comments and concerns should be sent directly to Ali Akl at CK PUC and Paul Adams at AECOM, per contact details below.  

In addition, a request may be made to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks for an order requiring a higher level of study (i.e. requiring an individual/comprehensive EA approval before being able to proceed), or that conditions be imposed (e.g. require further studies), only on the grounds that the requested order may prevent, mitigate, or remedy adverse impacts on constitutionally protected Aboriginal and treaty rights. Requests on other grounds will not be considered. Requests should include the requester contact information and full name.  

Requests should specify what kind of order is being requested (request for conditions or a request for an individual/comprehensive environmental assessment), how an order may prevent, mitigate or remedy potential adverse impacts on Aboriginal and treaty rights and any information in support of the statements in the request. This will ensure that the Ministry is able to efficiently begin reviewing the request. Please visit the Ministry’s website for more information on requests for orders under Section 16 of the Environmental Assessment Act at:
https://www.ontario.ca/page/class-environmental-assessments-section-16-order

The request should be sent in writing or by email to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks per contact details below, and also copied to Ali Akl at CK PUC and Paul Adams at AECOM:  

Your feedback is important to us.  
If there is no request made by June 19^th, 2023, CK PUC will proceed with the design and construction of this project.

The Study

The Public Utilities Commission for the Municipality of Chatham-Kent (CK PUC) is conducting a study to to review and confirm municipal water servicing requirements and identify capital project upgrades required for the North-East Chatham Kent Water Distribution System (WDS) in order to provide sustainable municipal water and accommodate near and long term future growth demands. Specific to this study, the MCEA will look at siting new watermains, pumping and storage facilities in the Thamesville /Dresden/Bothwell area, in addition to supplying municipal water to the Delaware Nation at Moraviantown.

The goal of the study is to ensure that the water distribution system within NE Chatham Kent becomes a reliable water source to current and future users. The Municipality, through that goal, is aiming to achieve the following objectives:

• Complete enhanced Schedule B MCEA to identify municipal water servicing requirements within the NE WDS.
• Investigate-confirm the capacity of Chatham Water Treatment Plant (WTP) for the possibility of meeting the near and long-term demands of the NE Chatham Kent WDS.
• Establish the additional infrastructure, to supply water from the endpoint of Zone 1 Road and Industrial Road.
• Identify the suitable infrastructure to service the Thamesville Community (e.g. rehabilitation of existing Standpipe vs. New Elevated Tank), Bothwell Community, identified greenhouses, and Delaware Nation of Moraviantown First Nation (Moraviantown).
• Confirm the need for the continuation of the existing connection from Middlesex Tri-County to the Bothwell Community Water Supply System.
• Coordination with the current CK Wallaceburg WTP MCEA team who is looking at serving Dresden.

The MCEA Study will focus on the expansion of NE Water Distribution System to meet the growing municipal water demands within the NE Water Distribution System. The expansion of NE Water Distribution system will also provide the opportunity to:

• Service Moraviantown (currently on groundwater well system) and Bothwell (currently serviced externally from separate water system).
• Improve water system pressure, particularly in the communities of Thamesville and North Thamesville.
• Address water demand for farming operations and service residences and businesses in the rural service area, where requested, to increase customer base and lower operating costs and to address future Greenhouse demands.

Project Timeline

• Notice of Study Commencement: August 3, 2021
• Notice of Public Information Centre #1: November 30, 2021
• Notice of Public Information Centre #2: July 2022
• Notice of Study Completion: May 22, 2023 to June 19, 2023

The Process

The MCEA study will be following the Schedule "B" planning process as per the Municipal Engineers Association’s MCEA manual (October 2000, as amended in 2007, 2011 and 2015), which is approved under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act. A Project File documenting the MCEA process will be available for public review at the end of the study.

Public input is essential to this study. The CK PUC invites anyone with an interest in the study to have an opportunity to provide feedback and help inform the decision-making process. Two Public Information Centres (PICs) will be held over the course of the study. The first PIC will be to introduce the study and present the NE Chatham-Kent WDS constraints and opportunities, potential solutions, and evaluation criteria. The second PIC will present the recommended municipal water servicing strategy, including associated capital projects. Advance notification will be provided prior to each PIC.

Public Notices will be issued throughout the course of the study to notify stakeholders and the public of the project status, the Public Information Centre (PIC), and to invite feedback.

1. Notice of Study Commencement: August 03, 2021
2. Notice of Public Information Centre #1: November 30, 2021
3. Notice of Public Information Centre #2: July 2022
4. Notice of Study Completion: May 22, 2023 to June 19, 2023

The Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission (CK PUC) is responsible for the treatment and delivery of safe drinking water to a population of approximately 89,000 within the single tier Municipality of Chatham-Kent. The CK-PUC currently operates 5 water treatment plants (WTP) with distribution systems, one (1) stand-alone water system (Bothwell, currently receives water from the Middlesex Tri-County water supply system), approximately 1710 km of watermains, ten (10) elevated tanks and nine (9) reservoirs.

Water is currently supplied to the Northeast part of Chatham-Kent by the Chatham-Kent Water Treatment Plant. The distributions system in the Northeast does not currently have the capacity for future growth outside of its current service area and there has been increasing demand/enquiries from Delaware Nation, potential greenhouse developers and farmers for the provision of increased water supply to the Northeast. The low pressures in the area make expanding the system difficult to accomplish.

This study will provide the CK PUC with the opportunity to develop and assess a range of water supply strategies to provide sustainable municipal water to Northeast Chatham-Kent to accommodate near and long-term future growth demands, while also providing municipal water to the Delaware Nation Community.

Public Information Centre #1 (PIC#1) presents the alternative servicing strategies to provide water to Northeast. The alternatives will be evaluated against a set of environmental criteria which include:

• Land Use – Conformance with approved local, county and provincial plans and policies
• Technical – Constructability and utility conflicts and the ability to meet long term water servicing requirements including flow, pressure and fire flow
• Natural Environment – Potential effects on the terrestrial, aquatic environments, species at risk, and climate change
• Socio-Economic – Potential effect related to disruption to residences, agriculture and travelling public
• Cultural Environment – Potential effects on archaeological and built heritage resources
• Cost – Cost of construction and operation/maintenance of the system

The alternatives presented have been broken down into two strategies. Each strategy involves multiple routing alternatives (Thamesville Area to Bothwell) to be evaluated:

Strategy 1 – New Thamesville Booster Pumping Station using the existing 2.3ML standpipe located in Ferguson Park (Chatham-Park Parks department to confirm siting areas in the park).

• Alternative Route 1 – Longwoods Road to West Bothwell Road
• Alternative Route 2 - Longwoods Road to 7 Zone Road
• Alternative Route 3 - County Road 23 (CR 23) to 7 Zone Road

Strategy 2 – New North Thamesville Booster Pumping Station and New 2.3 ML Elevated Tank

• Alternative Route E1 – Longwoods Road to Bothwell Road
• Alternative Route E2 – Longwoods Road to Zone 7 Road to Zone Centre Line
• Alternative Route E3 - Jane Road to Base Line Road to Fairfield Line to Longwoods Road to Bothwell Road

An additional set of alternatives will be considered for the final connection route through Bothwell to connect to the existing elevated tank on Jane Street:

• Bothwell Connection Route 1 – Watermain continues along Longwoods Road to 9 Zone Road north to the elevated tank on Jane Street
• Bothwell Connection Route 2a - Watermain Follows railway tracks from Bothwell Road to 9 Zone Road north to the elevated tank on Jane Street.
• Bothwell Connection Route 2b - Watermain continues along Bothwell Road to Elm Street. Follows Elm Street to 9 Zone Road north to the elevated tank on Jane Street.
• Bothwell Connection Route 2c - Watermain continues along Bothwell Road to Main Street. Follows Main Street to Cherry Street to the elevated tank on Jane Street.

A comprehensive qualitative evaluation will be completed for each servicing strategy to recommend the best watermain route and booster station/elevated tank location. The results of this evaluation will be presented at PIC #2 which is scheduled to take place in the Spring of 2022.

All personal information included in a submission, such as a name, address, telephone number and property location, is collected, maintained, and disclosed by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks for the purpose of transparency and consultation. The information is collected under the authority of the Environmental Assessment Act or is collected and maintained for the purpose of creating a record that is available to the general public as described in Section 37 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Personal information you submit will become part of a public record that is available to the general public unless you request that your personal information remain confidential. For more information, please contact the Project Officer or the Ministry of the Environment’s Freedom of Information and Privacy Coordinator at 416-819-5148.