Water study set for Haldi Lake Road

Concerns over water supply for the Haldi Road contentious women's addiction treatment centre is being put to the test.

Area residents raised concerns about the ability of the aquifer surrounding the former Haldi Road elementary school to sustain the water usage and septic field necessary for the proposed Northern Supportive Recovery Centre for Women and its 30 full-time residents.

Project manager Marshall Smith said the owner of the former school, Craig Wood, and the centre proponents have hired EBA Consultants to conduct the analysis.

"We are responding to the neighbours and giving them the information they say they're looking for," Smith said. "[EBA Consultants] are going to be here for a week starting on July 11. They will provide a study and sensitivity report which we will share with the neighbours."

Haldi Lake Road area residents are being asked co-operate in the groundwater study to determine if the aquifer can sustain the proposed women's addiction treatment centre.

In addition to testing the well and aquifer on the property, residents living within one kilometre of the site are being asked to allow EBA to test their wells and water levels.

The cost of the study is estimated at $25,000.

Testing a number of sites around the proposed centre will provide a broader, more accurate picture of the aquifer and its capacity, said Smith.

"I'm confident that there is more than enough water to go around. But I like to live in an evidence-based community," he said. "We need neighbours to come forward and volunteer to participate in the process."

Area resident and a strong opponent of the proposal Laura Jagodnik said she'll be participating.

"We want to make sure that people's wells and septic [systems] aren't jeopardized," Jagodnik said.

The heavy rain this spring may mean a study conducted this month may not be an accurate reflection of typical water levels, she said. In July last year, many residents were concerned about wells running dry, she said.

"If our water isn't here in the future, how will we get water - and at what cost," Jagodnik said.

Jagodnik is a member of a community committee which has formed to express concerns on behalf of the area residents.

"We're meeting and we're raising our concerns - the same ones at the very beginning. It's not that we're against the facility. But we have concerns," she said. "We are going to go door to door to talk to people about the water study."

For more information or to register as a possible participant in the study, go online to www.northernwomen.com.