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Alarm raised over balance of Orangeville water and development

August 13, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

At least one Orangeville councillor believes steps should be taken early to safeguard Dufferin County’s groundwater later.

A John Street woman urged town council during its Aug. 10 meeting to refrain from any possible data centre developments until a study into water sustainable availability is completed.

“I think this is the wrong time to do this when we have a water problem,” she said.

Such data centres require a lot of water for cooling systems. There have been no applications for a data centre in Orangeville.

She said any changes to the town’s Official Plan should be delayed until the completion of a water resource master plan.

“I think it’s a false hope for developers to think that there’s going to be enough water if there’s not,” she said. “I would ask council to state that the ground water that we have for development depends on a resource that we do not yet know we can sustainably provide. The responsibility of this decision is not to gamble.”

Ground water is fundamentally different from municipal infrastructure, she said.

“We can build another road, we can expand a treatment plant, we can upgrade an electrical system, (but) we cannot build another aquifer,” she said. “Once ground water quantity has been seriously compromised, the consequences are not something council can solve with another vote or another planning application.

“And there is another reason for caution.”

David Smith, the town’s CAO, said there hasn’t been an expressed interest for a data centre in Orangeville.

“Comments are well-received, but I don’t want people going away thinking that something is bubbling or happening that isn’t today,” he said. “Could change tomorrow but isn’t today.”

Coun. Tess Prendergast, before the meeting, gave notice of motion regarding water resources and infrastructure. She said emerging forms of critical infrastructure, including data centres, may have implications for groundwater resources, electricity demand, municipal servicing, land-use planning, and regional infrastructure.

Data centres provide economic investment, employment, assessment growth, energy-sector opportunities, enhanced digital infrastructure, data sovereignty, and cybersecurity benefits.

Orangeville relies entirely on groundwater for its municipal drinking-water supply, and planning decisions by neighbouring municipalities may have cross-boundary impacts on drinking-water resources, infrastructure and municipal services.

Dufferin County has an important role in coordinating regional planning matters that extend beyond municipal boundaries and affect more than one municipality.

As such, Coun. Prendergast’s notice of motion will be a request that the county undertake a comprehensive and balanced review of the potential advantages and disadvantages of new data centre development proposals.

The review should include possible impacts on economic development, employment, assessment growth, electricity demand and capacity, digital infrastructure, data sovereignty and cybersecurity, groundwater resources, municipal servicing, land-use planning, regional infrastructure and cross-boundary impacts, to inform future planning decisions.

Coun. Prendergast said it means a lot when residents get behind issues that may face the municipality.

“You understand the sanctity of ground water,” she said of the John Street resident’s concerns. “It is preventative. It’s better to know what we have, what capacity we have in advance of these potentially good economic things coming. We don’t want to be biased one way of the other, but we do need to drink water.”

Deputy Mayor Todd Taylor acknowledged there has not been an application or queries about a data centre in Orangeville. But, he said, the town can’t support a large business coming to Dufferin County.

“Even if there was a will to have it, we do not have the resources to do it in this geographic area,” he said. “And that’s the end of the story.”

Coun. Prendergast said provincial priorities often trump local priorities and she cited as evidence an application by a company that is feared would interfere with water resources in nearby Melancthon.

Strada Aggregates has proposed a below-the-water-table limestone quarry that has raised residents’ concerns. The project will cut through an underground stream that supplies water to Horning’s Mills wells.

“I don’t think it’s impossible and I think we need to safeguard Dufferin County,” Coun. Prendergast said.

In response to another question, Tim Kocialek, the town’s infrastructure services general manager, said Orangeville last year built a new water storage facility, and there are plans for an additional well to be brought online in two or three years.

“We’re also looking at other opportunities for improvements to the system to gain more capacity,” Kocialek said.

Josh McKeown, an Orangeville resident, said he supported Prendergast’s notice of motion about regional water resources infrastructure. Economic benefits should be weighed against local and regional impacts before something like a data centre application arrives, he said.

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