Quebec City water source deteriorating fast as politicians bicker

One of Quebec City's major sources of drinking water is at the centre of a dispute that is pitting mayors against mayors.

Lac St-Charles provides drinking water for 300,000 people in Quebec's capital. It is located north of the city, but surrounded by several booming mountainside towns, including Stoneham-Tewkesbury and Lac Beauport.

A report released last year found the lake was aging prematurely. In only five years, the lake had aged the equivalent of 25 years. Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume called the findings an "electroshock" for elected officials.

Over the last six months, Labeaume has been using his authority as the president of the regional council — the Communauté Métropolitain de Québec (CMQ) — to bring forward measures to protect the lake.

But those moves have caused friction with the mayors of communities around the lake, many of whom are dealing with pressures from local developers and property owners who want to build dream homes and new neighbourhoods.

An aging lake

"The lake is aging and we have to do something about it," said Sylvie Larose, president of l'Association pour la protection de l'environnement de Lac St-Charles et des Marais du Nord.

One of the signs of aging is a higher number of invasive species in the lake, Larose said, a process that is fuelled by the increase in nutrients in the lake.

An excess of nutrients can cause blue green algae blooms which leads to cyanobacteria, as happened to Lac St-Charles in 2006. The toxicity caused by this bacteria can be treated so the water is fit to drink, but it is very expensive.

One of the consequences of rampant development is reducing the amount of soil available to filter nutrients out of water as it makes its way into the lake.

"With the asphalt and the houses and everything, instead of the rain water being absorbed slowly by the soil it runs and it picks up a lot of nutrients and it ends up in water," Larose said.

The problem is compounded by septic tanks incapable of thoroughly filtering phosphorus and nitrogen, the two nutrients that cause algae blooms.

Development moratorium, new rules announced

As part of Labeaume's efforts to protect his city's supply of drinking water, he oversaw the CMQ's implementation last year of a 90-day moratorium on all development projects in the Lac St-Charles area while new building regulations were drafted.

​The CMQ finally announced the new regulations in March, which banned new developments that rely on septic tanks and all development on inclines of 15 per cent or more.

Stoneham Mayor Robert Miller complained the regulations were too rigid; the rules would stop 325 developments and cost his municipality $500 million in lost tax revenue.

"It's abusive, irresponsible, unrealistic and utopian," Miller said at the time.

The mayor of nearby Lac Beauport, Louise Brunet, sought compromise. She was in favour of new rules to protect the watershed. But several councillors in her municipality are against them, as are several mayors in the regional county municipality (MRC) of which she is the prefect.

In March, Brunet voted against the new rules in her capacity as prefect of the MRC. She said it wasn't so much what was in the rules, as how the process was handled — the other mayors in the MRC want to be "partners" with Quebec City in the regulation process.

Labeaume created 'psychodrama': Stoneham mayor

Facing this surge of opposition, Labeaume and the CMQ decided to offer a six-month grace period before its regulations come into effect.

The mayor of Stoneham said he was happy to hear that the rules were suspended for six months. But he is still furious with the Quebec City mayor.

"Mr. Labeaume, today, you've finished insulting us and insulting people who don't think like you. And treating us like idiots, promising us an easing of the restrictions, and then changing your mind right after," Miller said.

He said he expects to see as many as 500 applications for building permits over the next six months as people try to squeeze their projects in before new rules come into effect in October. Normally the municipality would receive that many requests over the course of four and a half years.

"It makes me worried for the environment of Lac St-Charles," Miller said.

Labeaume, however, dismissed Miller's concerns.

"We are just asking him to protect some green hills in that region, to not hurt the environment there," he said.

Labeaume said the mayor has control over how many building permits are approved, and that Stoneham can limit the number of projects that get a green light.

But Miller is not the only one concerned about a building frenzy.

Sylvie Larose of APEL, an organization whose mission includes protecting Lac St-Charles, said she doesn't agree with the CMQ's decision to lift the moratorium on development. Like Miller, she believes there will be a rush to build.

"There's probably going to be more development in an accelerated fashion because people are going to be taking advantage of this opportunity much more than there would have been if there was just some easing up of the rules."

A call for action

Last week 13 researchers from Laval University signed a letter to the editor of the Quebec newspaper Le Soleil, demanding the municipal and provincial officials act immediately to protect Lac St-Charles.

Biology professor Warwick Vincent is a specialist in the health of lakes and a signatory to the letter. He said he can't speak specifically to the rules proposed by the CMQ or the lifting of the moratorium. But he wanted to alert the public to the urgency of making changes right now.

Once cyanobacteria builds up in a lake, Vincent said the lake then starts to deteriorate more quickly. He said the city should heed the examples of other major municipalities that have opted to protect the source of drinking water rather than treating it for toxins afterwards in the treatment process.

"Lac St-Charles is now at a critical state, and every summer counts," Vincent said.

"My experience from working on lakes around the world is that once toxic cyanobacteria become established, it is extremely difficult to put back the clock. At Lac St-Charles we have a window of opportunity."