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World Water Day

March 24, 2022   ·   0 Comments

Dear editor,

March 22 is World Water Day and in Caledon, we have much to be grateful for in this regard. We are blessed with marvellous rivers, ponds and wetlands as well as an enormous catchment area that forms the headwaters area of the Credit River.

Additionally, thousands of our citizens can rely on local well water for clean, plentiful drinking water thanks to our existing ground water supplies.  
Regrettably, our marvellous water supplies are seriously threatened by the affects of the gravel mining industry in Caledon. Currently, we have 23 actively licensed pits that consume millions of liters of water annually for processing aggregate products.

Thus far, the Caledon gravel mining industry has utterly destroyed over 4000 acres of pristine forests and farmland in our community. And there are additional applications pending which will further expand these numbers.
Across Ontario, there are more than 5000 pits and quarries currently, and in total, those operations are capable of producing 13 times the amount of gravel that Ontario utilizes per year. Clearly there is no need for more gravel operations in Ontario anytime soon.
It is time for a moratorium on new gravel mining approvals which would permit an unbiased review panel to conduct a proper analysis of industry practices, provincial consumption patterns and future needs. This will help ensure that gravel mining does not compromise our precious rivers and groundwater for future generations.

Sincerely,
David Sylvester
Caledon

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