Blog
Latest news about the Safe Drinking Water Team
Oneida Nation of the Thames, a First Nation just south of London, Ont., that has been on a boil-water advisory since 2019, has secured $43 million in federal funding to bring treated drinking water to the community. The connection to the Lake Huron Primary Water System will supply potable water to more than 500 homes and public buildings to the community, which is home to nearly 2,200 residents.
Mindorff discussed the benefits of agrivoltaics, which he described as a hybrid agricultural system that maximizes land use and reduces water consumption while providing clean and affordable energy. Among the benefits is the potential to increase crop yields, while reducing water and fertilizer requirements as well as provide growers with additional income generated through selling solar electricity.
Leaders of an Indigenous community near London, Ont., are calling for the federal government to work with them to help solve chronic water supply problems after a state of emergency was issued Tuesday due to low water levels. Residents of Oneida Nation of the Thames are under an order to conserve water and limit its use with the community's water tower at an all-time low. The tower is the primary source of water for the 546 homes and 22 buildings in the territory.
A decision to extend the Lake Huron water supply system to a London-area First Nation has earned the full support of water board members. The Lake Huron Water Supply System management board unanimously voted Thursday to endorse a request by Oneida Nation of the Thames to connect to the water supply system, making it the first London-area First Nation to join one of the region’s two water supply systems. “It’s exciting to hear our local First Nation is one of the first in the area to pursue this type of partnership,” said Adrian Chrisjohn, chief of Oneida Nation of the Thames, southwest of London.
Residents in Chippewas of the Thames First Nation near London, Ont., as well as a number of people and businesses in Munsee-Delaware Nation, continue to be under a boil advisory that’s been in effect since last month. The precautionary boil water advisory was first issued on Dec. 14, 2021, and asked residents to conserve their water usage. On Thursday, officials with Chippewas of the Thames announced the advisory is being extended “until further notice” and will impact all of its residents, along with “29 properties and 6 commercial businesses” in Munsee-Delaware.
ONEIDA NATION OF THE THAMES — Jennifer George’s home sits on a gravel road that separates this Indigenous community near London, Ont., from the neighbouring township of Southwold. On George’s side of the road, virtually no one trusts the drinking water that flows from the Thames River to their homes. Many have the same 18-litre blue jugs that line the floor of George’s kitchen, ubiquitous sources of water for drinking and cooking.
Water is something most Canadians take for granted. We have so much of it, it's no wonder. Per capita, our country has the world's third-largest freshwater reserves, but yet in many Indigenous communities, water can be difficult to access, at-risk because of unreliable treatment systems, or contaminated. That's the case in Delaware First Nation, an Indigenous community of about 500 people an hour southwest of London, Ont., a place where fishing was everything 60 years ago.
