Permitting Water Takings by Commercial Water Bottlers
From Eco Issues
In January 2007, two applicants filed an application requesting that the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) review its policy on issuing Permits To Take Water (PTTWs) to commercial water bottling facilities. The applicants asked the ministry to develop a policy that expressly prohibits MOE from issuing PTTWs to commercial water bottling facilities.
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Arguments against issuing PTTWs to commercial water bottlers
The applicants argued that issuing PTTWs to commercial water bottling operations is contrary to the ministry’s Statement of Environmental Values, which states that “the ministry will adopt an ecosystem approach to environmental protection and resource management.”
Ecosystem Approach
The applicants argued that an “ecosystem approach” to water management requires that water withdrawn from a watershed must be returned to that source watershed. The applicants noted that water withdrawn by commercial bottlers in Ontario may be shipped anywhere, including outside of the source watershed. Although bulk transfers of water out of Ontario’s basins have been prohibited since 1999, this prohibition explicitly excludes the transfer of bottled water. Accordingly, the applicants argued, implementation of an ecosystem approach very simply can not allow water to be taken for the purposes of commercial water bottling. Therefore, the applicants urged the ministry to stop issuing PTTWs to commercial water bottlers to ensure that water remains within its source watershed.
Goals of the EBR
The applicants also argued that issuing PTTWs to commercial water bottlers is contrary to the goals of the Environment Bill of Rights (EBR) – as set out in the Preamble to that Act – to ensure that the environment “is used wisely, protected and conserved, and where necessary, restored, for the benefit of present and future generations.” The applicants asserted that commercial water bottlers remove massive amounts of water from the aquifer. They stated that, not only can this practice cause significant harm to the environment, it also squanders a precious public resource for future generations.
Royalty Fees
Therefore, the applicants recommended that, if PTTWs are to be issued to commercial water bottlers, the ministry should impose a royalty fee for each litre of water taken by commercial bottlers, so that at least there is a “benefit to present and future generations” as envisioned in the EBR, rather than giving Ontario’s water away for free to commercial bottlers.
Plastic bottle waste
The applicants also argued that, by issuing PTTWs for water bottling, MOE is encouraging the generation of large volumes of unnecessary and avoidable waste in the form of plastic bottles. The applicants stated that, in light of MOE’s mandate to reduce the amount of waste in the province, the ministry ought to consider this related issue within its PTTW policies. (For a more detailed review of this application, please see 2007 Review of application on PTTWs for commercial water bottlers.)
Ministry Response
MOE denied this application for review based on the EBR provision that states that a review of a decision is not necessary if that decision was made during the previous five years in a manner consistent with the EBR’s public participation requirements. MOE stated that the ministry has reviewed and consulted extensively on its Permit To Take Water program since 2003, and thus, this application does not warrant a review.
MOE noted that the ministry provided two separate opportunities for public consultation in 2003 and 2004 on changes to its Water Taking and Transfer Regulation (O. Reg. 387/04, now the “Water Taking Regulation”) under the Ontario Water Resources Act (OWRA), which came into effect in December 2004. MOE also provided an opportunity for comment on amendments to its PTTW Manual in December 2004, which came into effect in April 2005. MOE noted that O. Reg. 387/04 and the PTTW Manual, together, set out rules and policies governing ministry decisions to issue PTTWs.
The ministry also noted that it consulted with the public in early 2007 when it proposed amendments to the OWRA through the Safeguarding and Sustaining Ontario’s Water Act, 2007 (SSOWA). The OWRA amendments, which came into force in August 2007, specifically considered the prohibitions of out-of-basin water transfers, including the exception to the prohibition for bottled water, and elevated those provisions from regulation (O. Reg. 387/04) into law. (A decision review of SSOWA can be found in 2007 Review of decision on the Safeguarding and Sustaining Ontario's Water Act.)
MOE further noted that it consulted with the public on its water taking charges proposal in April 2007. This proposal led to the new water taking charge for some commercial and industrial water users, including water bottlers, which came into force in August 2007. (See the decision review of the The Water Taking Charge Regulation).
Finally, MOE stated that, with respect to the applicants’ concerns regarding plastic bottles, the ministry acknowledges the importance of reducing waste packaging, and that it “continues to examine options for reducing waste.”
ECO Comment
The ministry’s decision to reject this application for review of its PTTW policies regarding commercial water bottlers was reasonable, as MOE has reviewed and consulted on its PTTW program, including the specific issue of bottled water, fairly extensively during the last five years.
As MOE noted, the ministry recently reviewed and amended its Water Taking Regulation and PTTW Manual, which both provide direction to MOE Directors in issuing PTTWs. The ministry also recently reviewed and enacted new provisions that restrict the transfer of water out of and between Ontario’s watersheds, as well as consulted on and implemented a new water taking charge for certain industries, including water bottlers. Accordingly, the public (including the applicants) have been provided with a number of recent opportunities to provide input on various aspects of the ministry’s water taking program.
However, it is noteworthy that throughout the various consultations on the water taking program, numerous commenters repeatedly recommended that the ban on transferring water out of Ontario’s basins should be extended to include bottled water, but the provincial government made a deliberate choice not to prohibit water takings that would transfer water in the form of bottled water.
While the provincial government has made the decision not to prohibit water takings for the purpose of water bottling, the ECO notes that this application raises another related issue – that of water allocation. The ECO has commented in past reports on the need for the ministry to consider establishing a clear policy for prioritizing water uses to ensure that PTTWs are allocated in both an ecologically sustainable and socially desirable manner (see Water Taking and Transfer Regulation under the OWRA in the ECO’s 2004-2005 Annual Report, as well as the Supplement to the 2005-2006 Annual Report).
This application, as well as a second application submitted by the applicants (see The 2007 Nestle Permit to Take Water Application) and numerous other PTTW applications on the Registry, illustrate the strong opposition felt by many members of the public to the granting of PTTWs for certain commercial or industrial water uses, on the basis that such water takings may threaten the health of the aquatic ecosystem and/or the potential supply of water for other purposes (such as drinking water). These concerns are particularly strong in high use watersheds and/or under low water conditions where there is a fear that the watershed cannot sustain the amount of water-taking permits that have been issued.
To address these concerns, the ECO believes that it is essential that the province develop an implementable low water response plan (see Drought in Ontario? Groundwater and Surface Water Impacts and Response), which should include an explicit rationale for allocating water in extreme drought conditions. In addition, to help prevent low water conditions from occurring, PTTWs should only be issued in accordance with water budgets that would help ascertain the capacity of each watershed to support water takings. Water budgets are being developed for most watersheds in Ontario under the Clean Water Act, and should be in place within the next few years.
The ECO also urges MOE to initiate a public debate about the possibility of establishing a hierarchy of water uses and fair allocation. The ECO believes that such policies could potentially help ministry staff and water users in responding to drought conditions and – in conjunction with proper water budgets – could also help establish a PTTW allocation system that protects the health of the ecosystem, reduces the impacts of droughts and low water conditions, and reflects societal priorities.
| This is an article from the 2007/08 Annual Report to the Legislature from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. |
Citing This Article:
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 2008. "Permitting Water Takings by Commercial Water Bottlers." Getting to K(No)w, ECO Annual Report, 2007-08. Toronto: The Queen's Printer for Ontario. 134-138.
