Joe Gowing

1. Prioritize immediate investment in water conservation programs and demand management
2. Accelerate exploration of alternative water sources (wells, treated wastewater reuse, inter-municipal supply)
3. Pursue a Lake Erie pipeline connection with provincial and federal cost-sharing
4. Commission an independent technical review of all options before committing to major new infrastructure
5. Approve developments now and resolve water supply constraints in the future

Other priority not listed abovecandidate's own words

Protect existing groundwater through monitoring triggers, aquifer-recharge protection and a transparent well-interference process.

Describe your position on how the Region should resolve this issue and what timeline is realistic.candidate's own words

The Region should use the extensive technical and consulting work already completed through the Water Supply Strategy rather than paying another consultant to repeat it. Any additional independent expertise should be targeted to an identified gap, not become another broad and expensive review. Our immediate priorities should be conservation, demand management, infrastructure rehabilitation and water reuse. I have already advanced a larger residential greywater and rainwater-reuse pilot, supported measurable conservation programs and brought forward the motion—unanimously supported by Council—requesting a pause on new and expanded private water-taking permits in the Mannheim Service Area. At the same time, the Region must accelerate work on additional wells, connections between service areas, treated-water reuse and other potential sources. I also raised the possibility of a Lake Erie pipeline because we need to consider generational solutions, not only measures that carry us through the next few years. A pipeline should remain under active consideration, but it would require a strong technical and financial case, environmental and Indigenous consultation, and substantial provincial and federal cost-sharing. The Water Supply Strategy should establish the long-term direction and implementation schedule in 2027. Conservation, rehabilitation and smaller supply projects must continue immediately, with medium-term capacity delivered through the early 2030s. If a Lake Erie pipeline is ultimately selected, it would realistically be a decade-plus project and would likely not be operational until the mid-to-late 2030s. I supported an independent examination of how the capacity problem was identified, reported and communicated. That accountability work is different from paying to duplicate the technical studies already underway. We now need to use the information we have, fill any specific gaps and make decisions.