The mayors of Windsor and Essex County want to get the ball rolling on a possible regional water system.
Windsor, served by the Windsor Utility Commission, gets its water from Lake Huron, while municipalities in the southern half of the county, which Union Water serves, gets it's from Lake Erie.
The system has worked well, but Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens has concerns. If there is a spill up the pipeline in Sarnia, there is no way to hook the city up to the water supply from Lake Erie. Alternately, if there is a toxic algal bloom in the western basin of Lake Erie like the one that forced Toledo to shut off its drinking water supply in 2014, towns like Kingsville and Leamington would have few options.
"Something as fundamental as drinking water -- we don't have the redundancy in the system that we want to have," said Dilkens.
The issue first came up last week during an informal gathering of the local mayors at Willistead Manor in Windsor. Dilkens said the issue needs more discussion, but suggested they may meet again to map out what steps they need to take.
Integrating the water systems county-wide will not be quick or cheap. Dilkens said the price tag could range from $30 million to $50 million. It could also take a decade.
"It's not that it's a difficult thing to do," he said. "It's a very expensive thing to do. It takes a lot of engineering. So, it's going to take time and money, like most things."
-With files from Paul Pedro
