2022 August 11

Montreal, August 11, 2022 – The Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE) warmly welcomes the adoption by the RCM of Vaudreuil-Soulanges of a resolution[1] asking the Quebec government to disclose data on groundwater withdrawals and inviting all regional county municipalities (RCMs) in Quebec to follow suit.

Rightly arguing that regional county municipalities and local municipalities need data on the volumes of water withdrawn in Quebec in order to ensure sustainable water management and sound land use planning that takes into account the real cumulative effects of these withdrawals, the RCM of Vaudreuil-Soulanges has asked

  • the National Assembly and the Quebec government to prioritize sustainable and transparent water management by amending the legal framework to explicitly make public the data on all water withdrawals declared to the ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques.
  • the Fédération québécoise des municipalités (FQM) and the Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ) to adopt their own resolutions to the same effect.
  • the RCMs of Quebec to adopt their own resolutions to the same effect.

“With the adoption of this resolution, the RCM of Vaudreuil-Soulanges is taking a strong and important stand that we hope will inspire all RCMs and municipalities in Quebec to adopt similar resolutions to ensure responsible and enlightened water management within their boundaries,” explains Sophie-Anne Legendre, interim executive director of the CQDE.

The CQDE is pleased to make available to the general public and to elected officials a model resolution that can be downloaded from its website, so that other municipal actors can easily follow in the footsteps of the RCM of Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

“This resolution by the RCM of Vaudreuil-Soulanges demonstrates that the municipal world, as well as citizens, civil society, and Quebec politicians, agree on the need for greater transparency with respect to water withdrawals,” concludes Marc Bishai, a CQDE partner lawyer. “Clearly, municipalities need this information on withdrawals. Municipal stakeholders want to exercise their leadership role in water management. Now all that remains is the long-awaited action at the provincial level.”

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