Feature Article - January 5, 2006

Home | Local Weather | Editorial Policy

Feature Article

January 5, 2006

. | Navigate | .

ArchiveImage GalleryAlgonquin Land Claims

Gray MerriamLegaleseGeneral information and opinion on legal topics by Rural Legal ServicesNature Reflectionsby Jean GriffinNight Skiesby Leo EnrightTastes oftheOttawa Valley Courtesy of the Fall RiverPub & Grill, Maberly

McDonald's Corners Re-use centre gets new life

Who would imagine that nineteen people of all ages would come to take part in a 2–day cold, somewhat grubby, community project during the holiday season? Only those with passion and commitment to a cause, you may say…and you would be right!

The Lanark Highlands council voted to close the re-use centres in the landfill sites as of December 31, resulting in an instantaneous rumble in the communities involved. Over forty people showed up at the following council committee meeting in support of keeping the re-use centres open: quite a surprise to the councilors.

A group was formed and a petition was written and presented with the hope of reversing the previous council by-law decision. This was debated in council, and finally on December 13 a vote was taken to allow the McDonalds Corners Re-use Centre to remain open for three months, under the supervision of volunteers; no staff would be provided.

Hence the "re-users" were formed and a work party was called.Plans were set to undertake a complete overhaul of the re-use centre. The township agreed to fix the ‘office’ at the end of the trailer as a place where the volunteer’s fingers could be warmed and a cup of tea enjoyed.

On Tuesday, December 28,cars, pick-ups and vans drove into the site, and before long everyone was pitching in, finding a job, and things were under way. A great deal of ‘stuff’ was taken to the MERA Schoolhouse to be sorted into either bags of ‘good’ for our re-use centre, or 're-cycle' for other charitable organizations or 'junk' for landfill.

The trailer floor was cleared, swept and scrubbed. There was suddenly room to move, books were sorted onto shelves,stuffed toys were peering down from the shelves and as darkness fell on the second day a great feeling of satisfaction was achieved at a seemingly impossible job.

Community members are asked to continue to bring in their re-use articles and to visit the re-organized centre. More volunteers to attend the site are welcome, as we hope to have two people per shift, and as plans are developed to further improve the outdoor space.

Many thanks are due to all those who participated. For more information, please phone Chris Anstead at 268-2008 or Lynne Parks at 278-2739.

Feature Article - February 23, 2006

Feature Article

February 23, 2006

Thougths on winter road maintenance

Editorial by Jeff Green

As this icy winter begins to wind down, there seems to be no consensus about the state of the roads. The debate about road maintenance has been particularly vociferous in Central Frontenac, with Councillor Logan Murray bringing the issue up at council, and various people weighing in on a weekly basis with letters to the editor.

Some people say the road crew is doing a commendable job, and the roads are well maintained under some extreme circumstances. Still others think the entire winter road maintenance is being poorly handled and new management practices are necessary.

To a certain extent, people’s attitudes are determined by their expectations. Some say that people who live on back roads should be prepared to stay home when conditions are extreme, while others think the roads can and should be made drivable under most circumstances.

I find myself conflicted about this question. Living at the end of a small township road, I sometimes think the crews have forgotten about me, and that I might not get out until the spring. On other occasions I find that crews have arrived before I expected them to, and that I have received service beyond what I can reasonably expect.

In the end, I really can’t say if I agree with Logan Murray and many of the letter writers who say winter maintenance in Central Frontenac is abysmal compared to South or North Frontenac, or with Mayor MacDonald who says that the road crews are doing a heroic job, working 24 hours a day and delivering the best service anywhere.

I did gain a perspective on the whole matter this past weekend, and it was not from driving through the different Frontenac townships comparing weather and road conditions, or from talking to public works managers about what kinds of practices they have put in place.

I gained this new perspective by going to Ottawa . On Saturday night and Sunday morning, a day and a half after the latest rain/ice/snow event, the residential streets in the middle of Ottawa had mounds of hard-packed, ice-covered snow piled up everywhere. The single lanes of road surface in the centre were barely dotted with gravel, and cars were sliding every which way.

When two cars approached each other, one had to pull into a driveway, or climb up on a pile of snow to let the other pass.

People were able to get through, mainly because the roads are flat, and the side roads are never too far from main roads, which were dry. It also helps that there are people everywhere, most of who are willing to give stuck drivers a push out when necessary.

These side roads are packed with houses, and represent million of dollars worth of assessment on every block, and yet their winter road maintenance is horrendous.

This observation doesn’t change anything about the heated debate here in Central Frontenac, but it does show that city road maintenance is no better; in fact from what I saw it is worse, and they don’t even have hilly gravel roads to deal with.

No matter, within a couple of months it will be spring and we can forget about winter road maintenance for another year. -JG

Feature Article - February 23, 2006

Feature Article

February 23, 2006

RuralRoutes gearing up for spring launch

by Jeff Green

One of the biggest challenges facing rural people of limited means is transportation. For people without a vehicle, or people who are no longer able to drive, it is hard to obtain the necessities of life. Medical and social services appointments, which are crucial for so many people, require timely transportation, which is often hard to arrange.

For years, rural social services agencies in Frontenac County have been struggling to provide transportation for their clients, using whatever limited resources they have been able to come up with.

The situation should begin to improve in the coming weeks and months.

Since late last fall, staff at Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS), co-ordinator Jane Drew, and a collaborative of social agencies have been working behind the scenes to develop Rural Routes: The Frontenac Transportation Service.

At first, the new service will be taking on some of the existing transportation services already offered by groups like NFCS and the Learning Centre, but Rural Routes will soon be developing new transportation services for people in Central, North, and parts of South Frontenac.

JaneDrew in her office at the Village Courtyard, 1095 Garrett Street,SharbotLake Through a grant from the Ministry of Health, two new vans will be purchased, and co-ordinator Jane Drew is hoping to develop weekly trips to Kingston , Perth and Smiths Falls for various purposes.

Rural Routes will be providing transportation for various programs, such as Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Supports Program (ODSP), but the new vans should enable cost effective transportation for the general public as well.

“It is expensive to arrange a trip to Kingston for a single person in a car, even with volunteer drivers; but by bringing several people the cost to the individual can come down to a reasonable range, perhaps $20 or so,” Jane Drew said when she talked to the News about some of the preliminary costing that has been done in looking at potential services that Rural Routes might offer.

Already lessons have been learned. In December, a scant few weeks after Jane Drew was hired to start up the program, she attempted to organise a bus trip to Belleville for Christmas shopping, only to find few takers. After she decided to scrap the trip for lack of interest, “people started calling” Jane Drew recalled when interviewed at the Rural Routes office in Sharbot Lake earlier this week. “So, when I began planning a bus trip to Canada Blooms, I made sure people knew they had to book in advance.” So, far, 35 people have confirmed for the Canada Blooms bus and this trip will be going ahead.

Rural Routes will looking for input from the public as it works to develop public transportation in Northern Frontenac County . The Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation has supported Rural Routes with a start up grant from the Eastern Ontario Development Fund, and the Trillium Foundation has provided funding to maintain an administrative office for two years. This will give the service enough time to establish itself in the community. After that time it will need to be self-sustaining.

Similar kinds of services are up and running in Napanee, Carleton Place and Bancroft, under different funding models. Jane Drew is planning to make presentations to the local councils and Frontenac County in the not too distant future. At some point, the agency may indeed be looking for municipal support.

Rural Routes is an ambitious program. If successful, it will provide a host of transportation opportunities for rural people for everything from medical services to leisure time activities. To survive, it will require the support of the public and a commitment to use the service.

The service will start operating very soon, and a grand opening is tentatively scheduled for later this spring.

Feature Article - February 9, 2006

Feature Article

February 9, 2006

Letters to the Editor

Re: Road complaints

I once heard a joke about a mother on the beach with her small child in her arms. A large wave came in unexpectedly and swept the child out to sea. The woman pleaded with God to give her back her child. She made promises and cried. God took pity upon her and in the next wave her child was returned to her. She looked at her child in her arms, then looked up to God in heaven and said, “He had a hat!”

What is my point? Well, it’s simple. Lately I have been reading letters of complaints about how our roads are maintained throughout the year, but especially winter. I would like to explain something that may have missed a lot of people who live here: This is Canada . “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute” was a saying I heard often when I first moved to this area. And I have found that to be true. In 19 years I have seen winters where 27 inches of snow fell in one day in November; in other winters, the crocuses came up in February. Temperatures varied from minus 40 to plus 10! So expecting the township and the road superintendent to be able to know how much to budget each year is asking them to use a crystal ball. ....and we all know how reliable they are!! Maybe an almanac may help, yet one cannot rely upon them either.

People complain about the road being ploughed too wide; too narrow; not deep enough to the pavement; too close to the pavement that they carve up the roads; too much salt; too little salt; salting when it’s too cold; not salting when it’s freezing rain; too much sand; not enough sand; sanding only certain spots; sanding too many spots; hitting mail boxes; not plowing soon enough when it’s slushy; too many runs up and back; or the best one...”They go by just when I’ve just finished shoveling the end of my driveway”. Be grateful that our roads are being maintained. Be proud of our men and women who take their job seriously and go out in all kinds of weather so that you can drive on the roads.

I for one am very proud of our road superintendent and his crew. I thought it was time I let him know that.

- Sonja Alcock

Macdonald?/MacDonald?

Like many, I enjoy reading about local happenings when your paper arrives in my mailbox. When we are away, the electronic version helps to keep us informed. All of this makes me reluctant to complain about the difference between D and d, but I must.The paper regularly presents the surname of our first prime minister as MacDonald rather than Macdonald. More alarming, it would appear from the newspaper pictures that the mural will do the same.

- Roger Macdonald

Come and get your signs !

I would like to congratulate Geoff Turner on his 14,833 votes, 24.9% from his riding, for a political party infiltrated with corruption; that’s pretty impressive.

Back in the 2004 election, I acquired several conservative signs that, to my knowledge, I am held accountable for. Late evening or early morning on Election Day my neighbour’s conservative election sign disappeared, and stapled to my conservative sign was a smiley Geoff Turner Liberal sign. Now I know that you liberals are laughing at this; but by now it’s okay; I have to understand that your party does no matter what to win its game. I would not make this a public issue if this were a single event.We own property in another town of Scott ’s riding and two of our signs that were stapled on this heritage home, in the process of renovation, were also removed. It was apparent that all conservative signs on private property in this area were removed on Election Day. I am not a member of any political party. I follow and understand politics to a great degree, but for someone at this political time to put a liberal sign on my private property was insulting, to say the least.Mr. Geoff Turner: it appears you may be running again in the near future. You are welcome to reclaim your sign immediately. I do not want to be held legally responsible for your sign. Looking back, I recall 54% of a public survey portrayed liberals as victims. I guess you have been victimized again.

- Rita Staniforth

Feature Article - February 16, 2006

Feature Article

February 16, 2006

Verona CommunityAssociation business lunch

by Jeff Green

Fifteen members of the Verona and area business community gathered last Thursday for the first ever Verona Businesspeople’s Luncheon at Mom’s Restaurant in the heart of the village.

The Verona Community Association (VCA) organised the event. The VCA is well known for organising events such as the Verona Festival and the annual Christmas tree lighting. It had its origins as a business association. After a few years, however, it became clear the business owners did not have enough time to take very active roles in organising community events, and the Community Association was established.

VCA President Marcel Quenneville has been working to enhance the warm relationship between the association and the business community. He started his remarks at the lunch by presenting the results of a business survey the VCA conducted last summer.

Seventy-four percent of businesses surveyed said that the residents of Verona and the surrounding areas were their main customers, and 67% agreed that their business increased greatly in the summer months. Ninety-four percent of those surveyed said they have a good working relationship with other local business owners, and 80% said their business has improved over the past few years.

Perhaps the most interesting responses were to a question about what comes to mind when business owners think about what Verona needs most. The most highly recognized need was for a pharmacy, followed by a motel or more bed & breakfasts. As to what could help satisfy the needs of the community, attracting new businesses and developing parking were the most commonly identified items.

Marcel Quenneville introduced Tom Revell, owner of Verona Computer and Satellite and the webmaster for the VCA website. Tom Revell demonstrated how the site is set up and talked about improvements that are underway, including the development of an up to date categorised business directory, complete with links to member business sites and/or email addresses. Listings on the site are free to any business that has been involved in any VCA activity through financial or in-kind support.

Terry Shea, the General Manager of the Land o’ Lakes Tourist Association (LOLTA), also addressed the gathering. He discussed the role of the tourist association in member communities. The new focus of LOLTA, encapsulated in the new “Let’s Go” slogan, and their 2006 “experience planner” and vacation map, is on single day excursions for visitors to the region.

Terry Shea pointed out two important points for Verona area businesses. The first is that 2/3 of the visitors to the Land o’ Lakes region come to visit with family and friends who reside in the region on a permanent or seasonal basis. By making their services known to the local community, businesses will be accessing tourists as well. The second point is that LOLTA is now working with the Kingston Economic Development Corporation to encourage tourists who are staying in Kingston to come out to the surrounding region for day excursions.

“ Kingston , which has the ability to accommodate large numbers of tourists, is having difficulty keeping those people in the area for several days. The average tourist spends less than two nights in Kingston . If we can encourage people to spend and extra day in Kingston by spending a day in the Land o’ Lakes, it would be good for everyone,” Terry Shea said.

As the meeting wound down, and the people in attendance got ready to go back to work, there was broad agreement that the lunch had been successful. Although all of the people attending the meeting knew about the other businesses in the community, many of them had never met the people running those businesses.

Dianna Bratina, the Manager for Economic Development with the County of Frontenac , attended the meeting, as did Ann Pritchard, the Chief Executive Officer of the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation.

There have been similar kinds of efforts made recently, in Central Frontenac and Addington Highlands , to bring business people together in order to build a stronger business community. Those initiatives were both undertaken by the local townships, through economic development committees. The Verona business lunch had no township involvement, and there were no South Frontenac councillors in attendance.

Feature Article - February 16, 2006

Feature Article

February 16, 2006

AlgonquinLandClaim faces many hurdles

by Jeff Green

Although the Ontario Algonquin Land Claim process was initiated in 1992, it has never gathered momentum, and for the past few years it has been suspended as the Algonquin people have been trying to deal with internal issues.

These issues have centred on some very important questions, such as who is an Algonquin for the purposes of the land claim process, and how these people are to be represented at the talks.

A little over a year ago, the current Algonquin Chief Negotiator, Toronto lawyer Robert Potts, proposed that for the purposes of choosing negotiation representatives, anyone who can prove direct Algonquin descent can be eligible as an elector. Whether or not all of these people will share in the fruits of the negotiations is a question that has been deferred.

Seven Algonquin communities were identified, and an election process to determine seven representatives was undertaken last year. While the process was controversial, the seven people were chosen. These people have joined with the nine-member council of the Pikwakanagan First Nation, the only Algonquin Reserve on the Ontario side of the border, to form a 16-member negotiating table.

This table has been meeting for six months and has now informed the federal and provincial governments that they are ready to resume negotiations.

As the negotiations start up, it is worth considering what purpose this land claim process is intended to serve.

The land claim serves different purposes for different parties. The federal and provincial governments would like to have clear title to the Ottawa Valley . The Crown has granted much of the land for development by farmers and others, (the land includes the City of Ottawa ), for hundreds of years, without benefit of a treaty. The land claims process may cost millions of dollars, but it will legitimise 300 years of transactions that have been completed in the name of the Government of Canada.

For the people of the Pikwakanagan First Nation, it would open up economic development opportunities, and perhaps lead to an increase in territory.

For Algonquins who live off the reserve, most of whom are not considered native according the Indian Act, the land claim has many possible outcomes. Some would like to use the process to revive a vanished culture. European civilization eliminated the culture of their ancestors over time, and there is among them a genuine desire to find a place in the world that includes their Algonquin heritage. Many of these people have only faint connections to this past, and would like to change that.

Some feel that their community is in such a weakened state that it is premature to enter into a land claims process for fear they will sell off their ancestral rights for limited gains that will disappear within a generation or less. In spite of Robert Potts’ efforts, it’s fair to say that the non-status Algonquins are anything but a unified group, and have many divergent, seemingly irreconcilable, viewpoints about the land claim and their own future as a community.

Municipal governments in the Ottawa Valley have a direct interest in the land claim as well

Some of the townships within the claim territory contain large tracts of Crown land. Among these are North Frontenac and Addington Highlands . From the beginning of the process, all sides agreed that private land would not be part of any settlement, but since 1992, development on Crown land has been stymied by the land claim.

Recent initiatives by the Addington Highlands council have illustrated the problem that this unresolved land claim brings. A resort development initiative and a wind power initiative would become much more attractive if the status of much of the Crown land within the township were clarified.

The community at large also has a stake in the process. Under the surface, there is the potential of resentment among non-native people who trace their own roots in the land claim territory.

Resentment over native hunting and fishing rights is widespread in the region. Groups such as the Conservationists of Frontenac-Addington (COFA) take the position that there should be one set of rules for hunting and fishing for everyone. If hunting, fishing, and mineral rights are included in any settlement, it would lead to anger among non-native sportspeople.

As well, there are some people who question whether the Algonquin people are the historical inhabitants of the Ottawa Valley .

All in all, the Algonquin Land Claim is a complicated stew of interests and issues, and will have to be considered carefully by all involved, which includes virtually anyone who lives or works in the Ottawa Valley .

Feature Article - February 2, 2006

Feature Article

February 2, 2006

Steve Lapp: fighting global warming one light bulb at a time

by Jeff Green

The South Frontenac Natural Environment Action Committee chose Steve Lapp, a Sydenham-based alternative technology consultant who has taken on an exciting role at St. Lawrence College, as the first speaker in a series of nature seminars the group is planning.

Planning events in January is always risky, and organizers couldn’t also have expected that Sydenham would be shrouded in thick fog, but an overflow crowd of about 60 people came out to the township office to hear Steve Lapp’s presentation.

Although the seminar was titled Alternative Energy: Why should we care and what should we do?, Steve Lapp emphasized energy conservation as much as new technology as a practical way for people to limit the amount of emissions they are responsible for in their daily lives - and save money at the same time.

First, he went quickly over the mounting evidence that green house gas emissions are having an impact on the temperature of the planet, bringing the matter home by pointing out that Sydenham Lake has open water this winter for the first time in memory.

Steve Lapp takes a global perspective on the warming of the planet. “Global warming has the potential to cause more human suffering than any event in human history,” he said. “But there is good news, because dramatic reversals in carbon dioxide emissions, the primary greenhouse gas, are possible. Europeans use 1/3 of the fuel that we use. They do it by driving smaller cars, using less water, and by having governments that have built conservation into their economic policies.”

Electricity and fuel costs are much higher in Europe than they are in North America, and this makes a huge difference in the kinds of choices people make, according to Steve Lapp, who spent much of the evening talking about the financial realities people face in their day-to-day lives.

Ongoing and accelerating increases in the price of electricity and oil in North America have changed the cost of living for everyone, and this has made it in people’s short term financial interests to act as environmentally sensitive consumers.

One of the simple examples he cited are light bulbs. Although it costs more to purchase compact fluorescent bulbs than incandescent bulbs, cost savings brought about by the energy efficiency of compact fluorescents are large. “Compact fluorescents save money and reduce the demand for electricity,” said Lapp, “but I notice that the lights in this hall are all incandescent. Maybe Council will consider changing to compact fluorescents to save taxpayers money.”

He also talked about the Energuide program, which provides for an energy audit of residences for a nominal fee of $150, and rebates for renovations which result in a more energy efficient home.

In the interest of limiting domestic electricity use, Steve Lapp showed a measuring instrument that can be used to determine exactly how much energy any given electrical appliance uses, from chest freezers to home computers to light fixtures. The measuring instruments go by the trade name of “Kill-a-Watt” and are available at retailers in Kingston.

Steve Lapp is known for his expertise in alternative energy, and has worked as a consultant for solar and wind power projects for 20 years through his company, Lapp Renewables. His own home has become a demonstration site for the developing alternative energy technology. Throughout Monday night’s presentation, members of the audience peppered him with questions about a variety of topics, from hybrid cars (which he said are starting to be competitive in terms of long term cost with equivalent gasoline operated vehicles), to home wind power turbines.

His enthusiasm for all forms of energy conservation and renewable energy production is infectious, but Lapp keeps his eye clearly on the investment costs people face when they choose alternative energy in their lives, and on how long it will take to recover those costs through energy savings.

Last September, Steve Lapp took a job at St. Lawrence College as the coordinator of a new program in Energy Systems Engineering Technology. As part of the program, two old portables at St. Lawrence College have been turned into Energy House, a demonstration site for renewable technologies.

This new role has put his consulting business on hiatus, but will produce, over years, scores of trained technicians who will be able to put renewable energy applications into practice.

Judging from the interest in alternative and conservation technology that was expressed in Sydenham this week, these people will have very busy careers once they graduate from St. Lawrence.

Feature Article - February 2, 2006

Feature Article

February 2, 2006

Land o' Lakes Community Services - January News

Meals On Wheels: A service for seniors 55+, persons recovering from illness/surgery and/or persons with physical disabilities. Individuals, family, community agencies or professionals can make referrals for meals on wheels. Participation does not necessarily mean that a person is incapable of preparing his/her own meal; it might just be a great alternative to have someone else do the cooking for a change. Frozen meals are also available. For more information, call Marlene at 336-8934 or Charlene in Denbigh at 333-5216.

Interagency: North Lennox & Addington Interagency meetings are held at Land o’ Lakes Community Services on the first Wednesday of each month at noon. Membership is comprised of direct service staff from various agencies in the local community. The goal of the interagency group is to share resources between agencies, helping to identify available services and staff with particular expertise. The sharing of information and resources makes referral between agencies much easier.

Community Bus: The community bus is open to everyone and travels once each month to urban centres for shopping and recreation. Bus trips in the past have included going to Belleville, Napanee, Kingston, Perth, Smith Falls, and occasionally Pembroke or Renfrew. There are also occasional special events trips. On Thursday February 2nd, the bus will be going to Belleville. An increase in the number of people interested in using the service could result in trips every two weeks. Twenty people are required for the bus to run. The cost for the bus trip is $10/person.Tuesday Night Euchre: Every Tuesday night is Euchre night at the Northbrook Lions’ Hall and the turnout has been very good. Doors open at 7 pm and Euchre begins at 7:30. Everyone is welcome. For just $2 you will have a social night out and a light lunch.

If interested in any of the above programs call LOLCS at 336-8934. (For the Community Bus or Euchre you can also call Peggy at 336-8736)

March 16, 2006

Back toHome

March 16, 2006

Global Change Part 4:Water

Commentary by GrayMerriam

In the Land O’ Lakes we seldom think about water shortage. We are supremely fortunate to have all our lakes and rivers and wetlands. But global changes will bring water shortages into our lives before long.Producing one tonne of grain such as wheat takes about 1000 tonnes of water. Countries with water shortages (often dry areas relying on irrigation) can’t produce the grain so they import it. That is equivalent to importing water. If the needy country happens to have oil, they trade oil for grain which is the same as trading oil for water. Global economic flows are hidden movements of water across international boundaries.

Trading of water, or rights to water, was initially a local business. And that local trade in water still is very lively. It had a simplistic economic basis as well as a basis in human population geography. Those two elements, economic power, and population numbers meant that water would flow from the countryside to the cities. From agriculture to industry and commerce. It takes 14 tonnes of water to make one tonne of steel worth about $600 but it takes 1000 tonnes of water to make one tonne of wheat worth about $175. We each want a daily ration of about 4 litres of water, in one form or another, but our daily food ration requires about 2000 litres, 500 times as much, to produce it. So cities and commerce often take priority when politicians set policy for water use and distribution. Consider the ‘cities first’ statements in our recent election. What happens when such priorities are followed?

Water rights, and trade and sale of water rights is a simple economic response to competition for a resource. In the U.S. , the Colorado River's water now rarely makes it to the Pacific Ocean . It is all used up en route because priority was given to cities such as Los Angeles and to high-value cash crops that could be grown in marginal areas provided they were intensely irrigated. Similarly, in the State of Colorado , rights to almost all water supplies have been sold. As a result future development of both economic and natural systems is dictated by the owners of those water rights.

Following such policies, whether democratic or not, has made rivers run dry in the U.S., China, southeast Asia, India, Pakistan, central Asia, and North Africa. Drying up rivers also has dried up lakes. The best-watched example is the Aral Sea in central Asia . Politicians in Moscow saw the economic potential of cotton. Diversion projects moved freshwater from the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya into irrigation for the cotton project around the Aral Sea . The cotton production did not fulfill the politician’s economic dream but they did not give up easily. The eventual result is that the seaport economy of the Aral was eliminated, as was its fishery when the lack of freshwater inflow combined with the high evaporation pushed the salt concentration up a lethal level for fish. The water’s edge is now over 250 kilometres from the original shoreline. Silt, sand and salt from that exposed mudbed is picked up by the drying wind and deposited on farmland, taking it out of production the opposite effect to the politicians’ dream.

The Aral is not the only ‘lake’ to be dried up by mismanagement of water. In western China , over the last twenty years, 2000 lakes half of all lakes in that province have disappeared. Around Beijing , over 900 of about 1000 lakes have gone. Similar losses have happened in India , Pakistan and Iran . Excessive diversions from rivers and depletion of groundwater tables are the causes.

Groundwater tables are being depleted on all continents. For water tables such as the Ogalalla, running from the southern Prairie Provinces to the Texas panhandle, or the great water table under northern China or under Saudi Arabia , overpumping simply means the end of the supply because these aquifers are not replenishable. As their level is lowered, costs of pumping increase and eventually became impossible. Then the farmers must shift to dryland farming without irrigation. For heavily pumped aquifers that are replenishable, the rate of removal eventually matches the recharge rate and removal above that rate is impossible. Users must adjust from higher demands to that limited rate.

In northern China , the replenishable aquifer has been used up and wells are now being drilled up to 1000 metres deep to tap the non-replenishable, deep, ‘fossil’ groundwater table. Since 1998, the Chinese wheat crop has fallen by more than the total Canadian wheat crop. Rice production also is dropping. In India , the U.S. and the Mid-East, oil drilling techniques are being used to drill 1000 metre and deeper wells to compensate for overpumping. Groundwater is not being managed. It is being mined with no view to the future. In western Yemen , in the region of their capital where many of their 21 million live, projections by the World Bank indicate that the current unsustainable use of water will pump their groundwater dry by 2010.

So why should we, here in the Land O’ Lakes be concerned about water shortages elsewhere? In humane terms, water shortages cause human misery either directly and locally or eventually as the water shortage causes food shortage. The Council of Canadians has uttered a policy that every human being should have access to a clean supply of water no matter where they are. A humanely sound position. But, realistically, can humans live safely in all the places where there now are large numbers of people? Can large numbers of people settle in desert areas where formerly only a few nomadic people were able to survive? In the Sahel region bordering the Sahara , where aid projects have dug wells and put in pumps, many people gathered and brought their flocks. From satellite views, it was possible to see an ever-growing circle of denudation around those wells. Too many people and too many goats staying in one place all the time simply overcame the ability of those desertic areas to support them. Artificially supplying water to all water-limited areas where humans make settlements is not possible. There are some absolute limits to how humans can force themselves into unsuitable habitat just as there are limits for all other living beings.

But given our penchant for engineering challenges, we undoubtedly will continue trying to manipulate water resources in favour of humans. What does that mean for the Land O’ Lakes? It means that we have a treasure of water and others will come after it. In the late 60’s, the Parsons Project was designed in California to build a series of canals and dams that would move freshwater from northern Canada into the U.S. In the 70’s, then U.S. Senator Frank Morse of Utah stood on the steps of our parliament and proclaimed that we would be inhumane of we did not give the good citizens of Utah a supply of our water. They needed more subdivisions with more lawns to water, among other things. One Canadian politician, about the same time, showed a complete ignorance of ecological processes by arguing that water flowing into Hudson Bay was wasted because it had already flowed past all the people. Those attitudes are still present and we have added the complexity of a free trade agreement that does not give absolute protection to our water but instead threatens to give away rights of control of the water in a lopsided economic tug of war.

For more discussion, see “Plan B 2.0”, 2006, by Lester Brown, from the Earthwatch Institute or "Water' by Marq de Villiers, 1999, Stoddart or go to www.earthpolicy.org

Other Stories this Week View RSS feed

Feature Article - March 23, 2006

Back toHome

Feature Article - March 23, 2006

NFCSNotes:Happenings at Northern FrontenacCommunityServices

Sharbot Lake Diners Program: September of 2005 saw the expansion of our Congregate Diners program to Sharbot Lake . This popular program has been successfully running in Arden, Plevna, Ompah, and Bedford for almost 20 years.

On the fourth Wednesday of each month, mouth-watering smells can be found at the Sharbot Lake United Church hall as caterer Tim Cota and helper Glenna McGill prepare a delicious meal. The food is served at the table, country-style--no one has to stand in line with plate in hand or clean up afterwards. To date about 50 folks have enjoyed the monthly get-together for the three F’s of Food, Fun and Fellowship.

After the meal NFCS staff present entertainment that provides amusement and/or pertinent information to seniors. Anyone over 50 years of age is welcome to attend.

Recent months have seen events such as a presentation and discussion concerning how the aging process affects the ability to tolerate alcohol, the now-famous bean auction, a valentine trivia quiz, and an overview (with humorous props) of the various services that are available for seniors from Northern Frontenac Community Services.

The cost of the event is $9 per person and transportation to the event can be arranged. Our next meal will be held on April 26 and we’re looking forward to the scrumptious meal of Baked Chicken with Blueberry cheesecake or Lemon Meringue Pie that Tim will be preparing. Sound like fun? It is! Call us at 279-3151 to reserve your place at the table.

Tax Return Service: For the past few weeks our trained volunteers have been completing income tax returns for seniors and those on fixed or low incomes. This service will continue until the end of April. For further information call Joyce at 279-3151.

Deal with Your Debt - Credit Counselling available: Many people in our community struggle with loans, credit card debts and other forms of debt that are unmanageable. Irene Hughes is a credit counsellor at Kingston Community Counselling who works in our Sharbot Lake office regularly. Ms. Hughes has helped a number of families in the area sort out such debts and make arrangements with creditors that are manageable for them. If you need help with debt, call 279-3151 and ask for Kevin.

Foot Care Clinic: On the second Monday of each month a foot care clinic is available in downtown Sharbot Lake . By the end of the day 12 to 14 sets of feet leave the Anglican Church hall feeling much better than when they walked in! Trained foot care nurse Candace Bertrim provides each client with gentle, but thorough care of their feet and toenails.

People depend on their feet more than they may realize. Over a lifetime, people will walk, on average, about 115,000 miles. It is easy to take healthy feet for granted, but foot problems are actually among the most common health problems. Good foot care can help prevent many of these problems. There is a charge of $13 for this service and appointments are required. To book your appointment, call 279-3151.

Other Stories this Week View RSS feed