During the last public consultations, citizens raised their concerns regarding the availability of drinking water and their worries about the results of the study on the hydrogeological potential of the territory. The municipal council shares the citizens’ concerns and mandated a second hydrogeologist to validate and evaluate the availability of underground drinking water. In order to demonstrate greater transparency and to enhance the discussions, the Town invited the citizen members of the Planning Advisory Committee to participate in the meeting presenting the results of this second study.
A meeting enhanced by the presence of the citizens
This meeting took place on January 30, where the hydrogeologist, Mr. Philippe Perrier (Geo. M.Sc. Hydrogeologist) presented the conclusions of his study. The citizens attending, the members of the council, and the administration of the Town had the opportunity to ask their questions in order to understand the results obtained in this study. The questions asked helped demystify certain aspects of hydrogeology and identify factors that could cause the decrease of a well’s efficiency.
Consult the minutes of this meeting, as well as the hydrogeologist’s presentation report (end of the document) at: https://www.ville.dunham.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/Rapport-30-janvier.pdf
Some highlights
Groundwater is available in sufficient quantity to meet the average needs of current and future households;
The aquifer is not currently overexploited and would not be overexploited by the potential regulatory change to the R-4 zone;
Groundwater is available in sufficient quantity, however, it may be difficult to extract due to the bedrock aquifer;
Since the R-4 zone is located at the end of a recharge area, wells supplying upstream would not be affected by the implementation of new wells in the R-4 zone;
After several years, it is normal for a well to not perform as well as it did initially. Several factors can explain this: the well can become clogged over time, the casing can rust, the casing could be cracked, the well could be silted up, the well could contain clay, etc.