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Mono opposes aggregate operation’s proposal to extract below water table

November 6, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Mono council recently shared its concerns about an aggregate company’s plans to extract material and water from below the water table in Melancthon.

Council agreed that there are serious issues regarding the integrity of Dufferin County’s water resources stemming from the proposal.

If the water system were negatively affected by the aggregate company’s plans, it would have serious implications for Mono and its agricultural operations.

Strada Aggregates has applied to start a pit and quarry in Melancthon. It’s proposed to be located within the company’s existing Pits 1 and 2 and its Melancthon Pit Extension. Those sites are three licenses that are operated as a single pit.

The existing pit licences only allow the extraction of sand and gravel above the water table. The proposed pit and quarry would allow for the extraction of sand, gravel, and bedrock above and below the water table, according to the company’s application.

The area proposed for licensing is the same 149 hectares that is currently licenced, and the application does not propose to increase the existing approved extraction area.

The new licence would permit a 123.7-hectare extraction area for the pit and a 65.7-hectare extraction area for the quarry.

Deputy Mayor Fred Nix said Strada recently made an application to extract significant swaths of water.

“Maximum five million litres a day for 365 days a year,” he said.

That’ll be for 10 years, he added.

The company intends to take water from the community’s Wash Pond to wash aggregate.

Permits to take water are classified into three categories by the Ministry of Environment. Strada’s permit would be Category 3, which refers to water takings anticipated to have the highest potential to cause unacceptable environmental interference.

Nix said Dufferin County council intends to object to the application, and each of the lower-tier municipalities will be asked to follow suit against the company’s plan.

“Other than applying for a permit to take water, it’s not clear, at least to me, what they’re going to do with the permit,” Nix said. “It’ll be a few years before they get their quarry application through. In the meantime, they’ll have this permit to take water.”

A detail of the aggregate permit application is that Strada is looking to extract material from “significantly” below the water table.

And that’s concerning because there is no mention of what effect that extraction may have on Dufferin County’s water table as a whole.

“This isn’t just NIMBYism [Not in My Back Yard],” Nix said. “It is important because Dufferin County is the headwaters of all the major rivers in Southern Ontario that flow out of this area.”

That makes the integrity of the water table beneath the county critical.

Councillor Elaine Capes said she’s submitted her personal objection to breaching the water table.

“Rather than [use the word] concern, can we not use a stronger word?” she said. “Concern just doesn’t seem to give it enough weight. We absolutely disagree with this.”

Coun. Melinda Davie said five million litres daily is more than all of Dufferin County uses.

“It is very strange that, even prior to getting a license for the extractive activity, they are trying to get a water taking permit,” Mayor John Creelman said. “Wouldn’t they both run in parallel to each other or are they (Strada) trying to get a water taking permit to strengthen or buttress their application for an extraction?”

Mike Dunmore, the town’s CAO, said two provincial ministries are involved: one governs aggregate and the other covers water resources.

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