I am writing this letter in response to the Tom Claridge editorial in a recent paper entitled "Water: a growth-limiting factor?" Water could indeed be a growth-limiting factor; not just for us in Dufferin County but, if we continue our mismanagement of it, for the whole Province. This mismanagement has come about because of our long-standing view that water is a limitless resource in Ontario.

On the supply side, the vast majority of the water in our underground aquifers and in the Great Lakes is water that was left behind when glaciers retreated thousands of years ago. It is not readily replenished. The water that we have for our consumption is the precipitation that comes to us from outside the Great Lakes watershed.

We need to start to get much more sophisticated in how we budget and manage our limited water income. Both nature and humankind are conspiring against this.

We humans seem to be addicted to population growth. We are planning to grow the population in Southern Ontario by 25% (+4 million people) in the next 25 years.And nature, thanks to climate change, is providing significant changes in rain and snow patterns.

More prolonged dry spells and more erratic storm events are wreaking havoc on our manmade infrastructure and natural water reservoirs.

Building pipelines to the Great Lakes or, as Mr. Claridge suggests, to our local lakes is not a sustainable or cost effective solution.

Managing our use of water is the only way for us to go.

Actions such as installing water efficient toilets, faucets and appliances in homes, recycling of grey water in homes and cooling water in factories and smarter irrigation practices at home and on farms will be necessary if we want to grow our population.

On the waste side of the equation, piping Orangeville's sewage down to Lake Ontario or in Shelburne's case, further down the Nottawasaga River would be an irresponsible (and expensive) proposition.

Our traditional approach to the management of sewage, which is "solution through dilution", is unsustainable.

Conserving water in our homes and factories will take some of the pressure off our sewage treatment plants. But we should also pursue grey water recycling and even black water/waste composting.

In the face of a 25% growth in population and given that there won't be a similar growth in our water resources it is imperative that we become much better stewards of our precious water.

For us and for future generations.

Bob Duncanson

Executive Director Ontario Headwaters

Institute Shelburne