Carlisle Water Storage Municipal Class Environmental Assessment

Approximately 75% of drinking water in Carlisle is serviced primarily through four municipal groundwater production wells, with the remainder being serviced by private wells.

The Carlisle drinking water system has historically experienced high water demands during the summer, exceeding provincial engineering design standards. In the summer of 2002, the drinking water system was unable to meet peak demands. This event resulted in a mandatory total outdoor watering ban at that time. Further bans and restrictions such as alternative watering days have since been imposed and continue to be in place as required.

Based on water conservation programs in 2004 as well as a long-term comprehensive water conservation program between 2015-2019, it is evident that conservation measures alone will not be able to meet Carlisle’s future water needs. The community requires additional capacity to meet provincial guidelines for fire flow/storage, increasing demand with full build-out of the Carlisle Rural Settlement Area, and the gradual transfer of the remainder of existing private well supply users to the municipal drinking water system.

This municipal class environmental assessment looked at various options and alternatives to meet the water storage needs of the community, and examined the potential social, financial, operational, and environmental impacts of the preferred solution. As part of the project, we reached out to the public for their feedback on infrastructure options that will ensure that Carlisle will have long-term, sustainable water infrastructure.

The project was originally initiated as a Schedule “B” project in accordance with the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (MCEA) planning process (2023) approved under Ontario’s Environmental Assessment Act. However, the selected preferred solution which is a new larger elevated tank in Tower Park (40-46 Woodend Drive), does not require the acquisition of additional property and has minimal impact on the natural and socio-economic environment. Therefore, the study has been reclassified from Schedule ‘B’ to ‘Exempt’ from the MCEA planning process (2023). Due to this change, there will be no formal 30-day public review process, but if there are any questions or concerns, please reach out to the Project Team.

Update: The City went to Council(External link) with a Recommendation Report requesting authorization to file a Notice of Completion and Exemption of the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Process, and that Hamilton Water proceed with the preferred alternative of a larger elevated water tank in Tower Park for the Carlisle Water Supply System with an estimated detailed design and construction cost of $11M. The Final Carlisle Water Storage Study Project File Report(External link) was approved by Council in November 2024.