(Quebec) Régis Labeaume dreamed up a $200 million plan to save Lake Saint Charles, Quebec City’s main source of drinking water. The government and city on Tuesday announced a 60 million investment focused on replacing old septic tanks.
Posted 10:52am Updated 11:54am
The announcement leaves unsatisfied the organization des bassins versants de la Capitale, which advocates connecting homes around the lake to the aqueduct and canal system. However, authorities say urgent action was needed.
“We have not canceled this connection project. I was told that taking action as soon as possible to make an impact on the drinking water issue was a priority,” Quebec Mayor Bruno Marchand said during the announcement on Tuesday.
Lake Saint-Charles is a victim of anthropogenic eutrophication. In other words, it ages prematurely due to human activity. Slurry enters the aquatic environment from old septic tanks. The addition of phosphorus and nitrogen increases the algae, monopolizes the oxygen and “suffocates” the lake.
The city of Quebec and the government have therefore decided to attack old septic tanks that are 30 years or older and leave more pollutants in nature. The owners of these ancient structures around the lake, estimated to number between 1,500 and 2,000, will be forced to change them within five years.
Governments intend to subsidize this replacement, although the proportion that will be covered is undecided. Replacing a septic tank can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $12,000. Conditions will be known this year, and replacements will begin in 2024.
A plaster”?
The Lac Saint-Charles supplies 300,000 inhabitants with water. His health is a concern in the region.
Tuesday’s announcement puzzled Nancy Dionne, executive director of the Capital Watershed Organization, an organization that has cared about the lake’s health for years. She compares the government plan with a “band-aid”, a short-term solution that is not optimal.
“It is certain that it will have an immediate impact. But I don’t think that’s the best long-term solution,” notes Ms. Dionne.
“For us, the connection is paramount. Several studies point in this direction. Upgrading septic tanks is something that needs to be redone, she says. It’s about deforestation on citizens’ land. Septic tanks, even new ones, leak. Releases into the environment will continue. »
She also wonders if citizens, who are likely to pay thousands of dollars for a new pit, would be willing to pay a special tax for a possible connection.
She also recalls that the Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury and Lac-Delage treatment plants still discharge their effluent into Lake Saint-Charles. “That won’t solve the problem. »
The minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale, Jonatan Julien, believes the connection can have undesirable effects, including densification.
“We have to consider the detrimental effect that an increasingly distant connection can have, potentially bringing additional development and densification in places where we didn’t want to see it. he says.