This fall, Ron Stevens was forced to lower his well pump to the 30 metre level from 12 m after the water table dropped by up to 20 m in his community west of Grandora, Sask.
Water quality in his artesian well has since deteriorated and filters picking up shale must be cleaned several times a week. Plentiful water once drew deer to the family’s acreage, but their visits have dried up with the water.
He said his well water level dropped by 12 m from January to August.
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Stevens said his water woes coincide with a TransGas project in the area that began flushing salt out of underground caverns near Asquith, Sask., in January to prepare them to store natural gas.
The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority authorized TransGas to pump 6.4 million litres of water daily from the local Tyner Valley aquifer.
In recent community meetings, Stevens learned that area residents, who have also been affected by lowered water tables, knew little or nothing about the project, which has been licensed until 2008.
Residents have been told there is no scientific proof that TransGas alone is to blame for the dropping water table and deteriorating water quality, and that below average rainfall in recent years could also have played a role.
“They are saying it’s because of drought but there are too many wells affected to be a coincidence,” Stevens said.
He expressed surprise that the government’s water authority would allow the level to drop by more than the approved 10 m.
Nolan Shaheen, the authority’s director of ground water management, said TransGas researched the project and the authority’s hydrologists further reviewed it before the project started. The proposal was also advertised and discussed at public meetings in the community.
TransGas has operated similar projects in a half-dozen other sites in the province without controversy, he said.
“The drawdowns in Tyner are within a range of what you would expect,” he said, while conceding “they are a little higher than what we thought they’d be.”
Shaheen said there are limits on water use. TransGas is restricted from taking water once it drops to the level of the aquifer.
The authority reported Nov. 17 that 11 wells tested in the area showed contaminants exceeding health standards, but maintained there is no scientific reason to attribute it to the TransGas project. Affected residents were advised not to drink the water.
Water levels are now being closely monitored and TransGas has agreed to suspend pumping water for three months, beginning in December.
Stevens, along with other concerned citizens, plan to do their own investigations in the coming weeks.
“We’ve got to keep on top of it and hopefully get somebody to listen,” he said.
Mary Griffiths, environmental policy analyst with the Pembina Institute in Alberta, said these types of projects shouldn’t be approved until monitoring is in place and accurate baseline data on water levels are well known.
Her group is active in research and education programs in sustainable energy, environmental governance and the environmental impacts of the energy industry.
The drop in water levels in the Saskatchewan community surprised Griffiths.
“That’s incredible,” she said.
“There should be very good monitoring right from the start so if there is any change in water levels, it can be identified very, very quickly.”
She said similar projects in Alberta must be advertised to allow local citizens time for input and to review the project. They can also take their case to an environmental appeals board.
“(Local citizens) take the initiative themselves and write a letter of concern,” she said.
An Alberta government committee on water use practice and policy recently recommended more emphasis on water conservation. Specific concern was expressed about using water for underground injection activities and the need to reduce such activities, especially in water-short areas.
The committee proposed a new regulatory process to guide decisions in such projects and determine priority areas within watersheds, a review of all licences that allow such activity and an investment in research in recycling, water conservation and alternatives to using fresh water.
In the context of global warming and climate change, Griffiths said water projects need to include calculations that recognize that water stocks may not be replenished at the same rate as in the past.
Griffiths said underground cavern operations are relatively rare and previous operations have been regarded as “one-off” projects.
“People think there is plenty of water and only in recent years have they realized that’s not the case anymore.”
In Saskatchewan, rural municipalities require feasibility studies before major projects commence.
However, in the RM of Winslow near Dodsland, Sask., where oil and gas pumps are a common sight, water wells can be drilled on private land to support this activity. Reeve Monty Bender said the RM does not need to be contacted.
If property owned by the municipality is used, Bender said the company has to apply to Saskatchewan Environment and then the local RM for a drilling licence.
Bender said such economic activity benefits the area by adding commercial assessments and generating tax dollars for the municipality.
“I’d like to see a lot of it,” Bender said.
His community has not been affected by significant drops in water levels but has experienced lower water quality.
He cited an example in the 1980s on his own land when a company pumped lagoon water into his well and contaminated the ground water.
A municipal well less than a kilometre away must still be treated with chlorine and filtered to maintain water quality.
“Now (companies) wouldn’t be allowed to do that,” he said.
“Safeguards are in place to prohibit them from doing that.”
