New connection could supply Union Water, Windsor Utilities in planned/emergency shutdown

by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative

Union Water Supply System (UWSS) hosted its first Public Information Centre regarding a Class Environmental Assessment (CEA) it is conducting with Windsor Utilities Commission (WUC) for the eventual start of construction of new infrastructure that would connect the two water systems.

  The open house, held at the Essex Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 201), last Tuesday was meant to present project objectives and preliminary solution alternatives to residents in the UWSS system. A similar event was held previously for the Windsor supply area.

  The intention is to improve water supply resilience of the WUC system that serves Windsor, LaSalle, and Tecumseh, and the UWSS system that serves Kingsville Essex, Leamington, and Lakeshore, by providing a bit of redundancy of the water supply, Lauren McGregor, an Engineering Trainee for CIMA+, the consulting firm managing the project, explained.

  This is the broader study area included in the EA as the exact location of the future infrastructure has yet to be determined.

  UWSS and WUC have identified an opportunity to improve the supply resilience of their respective water systems by creating an interconnection that would allow each system to supply the other in the event of a planned or emergency shutdown.

  Both systems currently have just one supply source, Union Water being Lake Erie and WUC being the Detroit River, McGregor added.

“By providing an interconnection [between the two service areas], which is what the focus of the project is, it is helping to provide additional sources for each system,” she added. “If there was some emergency situation, or any sort of need to have a shutdown of one system, there is a way to provide some additional supply from another source.”

  Information provided about the project notes “water supply resiliency is increasingly important for water utility emergency preparedness as climate change introduces more uncertainty in supply quality and quantity.”

  It lists algal blooms, intake collisions, and oil spills as examples.

  Matt Phillips, CIMA+, Consultant Project Manager, explained UWSS and WUC were forward thinking and had the idea to complete this project before recent events across Canada demonstrated severe and extensive impacts of having critical water infrastructure out-of-service.

  Those events include the Wheatley Water Treatment Plant fire of 2023 or the watermain breaks experienced in Calgary and Montreal last year, McGregor pointed out.

  Those instances “have gotten utilities and municipalities thinking about how they can have redundancies, so in the event of emergencies, or if they have to shutdown a system, or part of a system, to fix something, they have a way to still meet demands,” she added.

  The Environmental Assessment is meant to apply feedback collected from the public and stakeholders into project planning and design, evaluate the impacts of various water system interconnection strategies, and to identify the preferred alternative for the water system interconnection, including its future location.

  The EA, McGregor noted, will look at the location of the infrastructure, and if there are any other solutions that may have been missed.

  Three options (each with an A and B components) are possible preliminary solution alternatives. McGregor noted all options have the theme of having a central reservoir and having additional pumping stations as that was found to be what best met the needs of the two water systems. It is also a technically feasible alternative.  

  Option 1 A and B include a central reservoir between Windsor Water Treatment Plant and Cottam Reservoir. One option would flow from UWSS to WUC, the other WUC to UWSS.

  Option 2A includes adding two new reservoirs, while Option 2B outlines operating the two existing reservoirs as a central facility.

  Option 3A calls for the addition of a central reservoir, and Option 3B would replace the existing UWSS reservoir with a central facility.

  A natural environment screening, cultural heritage screening, an Archaeological Stage 1 Study, and a Geotechnical study, if needed, will then be completed for the preferred solution alternative.

  Next steps in the project include considering ways to address concerns and select the preliminary solution, then develop design concepts for the preferred solution. Then, a report will be prepared to satisfy requirements of the Environmental Assessment process. Finally, the detailed design for the recommended solution will be created.

   The cost of the study, Phillips added, is being split between UWSS and WUC. They will rely on provincial and federal funding to build the infrastructure.

  A second Public Information Session is set for both water supply systems in the winter.

  More information about the project can be found by logging onto cima.planlocal.ca/union-windsor-water-connection

  Individuals have a chance to forward comments through the website over the coming weeks. Those interested are encouraged to reach out.