If you’ve observed the social media realm over the past decade and half, you’d likely agree that seasoned Prince Edward County rate and taxpayers share three main concerns.

       1/ The County’s crumbling infrastructure.

Our drab concrete welcome mat at the east end of the municipality with potholes that swallow compact cars whole is a national shame. There are County roads resembling goat trails in the north and south ends. In some cases, motorists take circuitous routes to Highway 33 or 62 in order to avoid suspension-busting sections of county roadway. To quote a former Mayor comparing provincial to municipal blacktops: “The province’s roads are always fit to drive.”

Fixing our roads on the backs of a population that’s been static at around 25,000 for well over a century is a math no one seems eager to figure because it’s bound to bring feelings of ruination and despair. Not enough tax base.

2/ Water and wastewater bills are amongst the highest in the land.

In a heavily regulated, post-Walkerton landscape, spreading six separate municipal drinking water systems over 6,000 ratepayers has dried up whatever good humour those folks on town water might once have had. Not enough users.

3/ Housing.

Whether it be rental stock, starter homes, or affordable housing for single parents, there’s just not enough out there and what might exist doesn’t correlate with the job market. The exodus of PECI graduates to apartment buildings in Belleville and Trenton threatens the historical and community fabric of Prince Edward County. Not enough houses.

So what’s the solution? For some, it’s sitting back and hoping upper tiers of government will come to save the day. “Ah, poor, poor, Prince Edward County. So hard done by with the all the tourism development. Well, here’s a big bag of money to fix your woes.”

The answer to these issues actually flows through the water. It’s called a Regional Water Plant.

I listened to the deputations at the August 27 council meeting — the one with the police — and especially to the doom and gloom scenarios visualized by opponents of a Regional Water Plant.

What if commercial development doesn’t materialize at the volumes predicted by the population and growth projectionists? What if the development companies decide to string the municipality along a little while longer and drive up the municipality’s long-term debt? What if that long lineup of developers — there were six or seven jostling for a microphone at that meeting alone — go belly up and founder like a dying perch in Picton Harbour?

In fact, the opponents don’t have a monopoly on doomsday scenarios. Those in favour have a few of their own. Across Picton and Bloomfield, the question that concerns is: What if the new RWP gets delayed somewhere down the road?

Those hooked up to the Picton/Bloomfield Drinking Water System need to start asking this out loud.

Let’s start with the math. Stopping a Regional Water Plant in Wellington means two plants. One in Wellington and another in Picton. Wellington needs a new plant now. Picton’s needs to be operational by the early 2030s.

The Chimney Point plant was built in 1928. Engineers with letters behind their names figure it can’t be retrofitted at its current footprint to meet current demands, let alone plannedfuture development.

This municipality will be building new water infrastructure no matter what. As for the Regional, the costs for two new plants, one in Picton, one in Wellington, will be spread over the user base — Wellington, Consecon, Ameliasburgh, Rossmore, etc.

According to the August 13 Prince Edward County Regional Water Supply Servicing Master Plan, a combination of a new Picton and upgraded Wellington water plants will cost $140 million. A regional strategy is costed at $122 million. The operation and maintenance budget would see an annual $228,000 costs savings with a regional plant. If you accept what engineers and experts are telling you, the financial case to go regional is clear.

(Editor’s note: The above figures are strictly a comparison drinking water plant strategies and do not take into account the need for a new Wellington Wastewater Treatment Plant project that’s expected to cost $55 million.)

But it’s not just money at stake when it comes to a water plant in Picton. There are lives to consider.

In the words of Project Manager Garrett Osborne, “We would still have the challenges as far as the intake protection zone and contamination risk with Picton Bay. We would not be eliminating those by continuing with a (new) Picton plant.”

Even if there’s a new plant in Picton, we will still be drawing water out of the Picton Bay soup which, by 2040, could easily be in full roil. Algae blooms. Stirred sediment from Picton Harbour bringing up all kinds of delightful toxins from the turn of the 20th century, when every manner of goods were offloaded there.

The County published an important Water Intake Study in 2014 prepared with data from Quinte Conservation. Based on collection data from 2011, the study indicates the presence of mercury and other heavy metals in the sediment of the source water protection zone. The mercury levels exceed federal guidelines. And not just in one place, but throughout potential intake locations across the width of the Bay. 

And that was well before Picton Terminals was anything more than a glint in Ben Doornekamp’s eye.

You could also ask: what if, say, the former town dump in Delhi starts to leach its contents into Marsh Creek, which already serves as the outflow of the town’s treated wastewater? If you know Picton, you know the creek runs under Bridge Street and right on into the harbour.

As an aside, did you know the rat infestation at the Picton Dump was so prolific in the 50s and 60s, a rat bounty was instituted for anyone brave enough to go down and pick off a few with a rifle? 25 cents a head. That would have been fun.

The good news is thousands of tons of garbage under the soil in Delhi is mostly still intact. During site selection, engineers determined the most cost effective location was near the legacy plant in Delhi. All pipes led there. But test drilling in 2007 found all the garbage. About three feet below the sod, garbage bags from the ’50s and ’60s were perfectly preserved. What if what lies beneath three feet of fill in Delhi makes an appearance downstream?

     Imagine future emergency costs of pumping water from Wellington to serve Picton after we’ve built a new Picton plant because we can’t source safe clean drinking water from the Bay. It will be the Picton Wastewater Plant Fiasco Take II, only this time for half a billion dollars. Our grandkids will be the ones cursing that decision and paying yet higher bills.

     To paraphrase Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption: “Get busy growing or get busy dying.”

     That’s a stark reality to life on Picton Bay these days. The drinking water source for Picton and Bloomfield must be Lake Ontario. We, too, for very good reason, want in on the cold clean waters of Wellington. Why won’t it share?