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economist suntribune the environment saturday sept 21 2002 residents blame growth for dry wells in vandorf by joan ransberry staff writer vandorf is becoming known as a dry place to live for reasons not everyone under stands wells in the northwest whitchurchstouffville community go dry forcing york region to put emergency measures in place large water holding tanks pop up on lawns in upscale subdivi sions while welldrilling equip ment is not an uncommon sight in the small hamlet four wells went dry in vandorf in the past three weeks alone while water is often the topic of conversa tion in the vandorf neighbourhood wayne scott of marjorie drive still wonders what really caused his well to go bone dry two years ago he and many residents in the area sus pect ongoing growth and an area golf course are depleting the water supply my wife turned on the tap there was no water i tried to flush a toilet no luck there was no water anywhere 1 couldnt figure it out we dont ever water our lawn wayne scott of vandorf the 180foot well on mr scotts property was redug to 245 feet at a cost of 20000 mr scott picked up 25 per cent of the bill the region picked up the rest i was on the hook for 5000 said mr scott mr scott admits hes still trying to come to terms with the situation in july of 2000 his family woke up in their 2800square foot home located on a threequarter acre lot to find they had no water the scotts had lived there for less than two years my wife turned on the tap there was no water said mr scott i tried to flush a toilet no luck there was no water anywhere i couldnt figure it out we dont ever water our lawn praise for region mr scott placed an emergency call to york region the areas water keepers the response was phe nomenal i was blown away by the efficiency phil harrison of the regions water department arrived and within half an hour an 800-gal- lon water tank was delivered to my home on one hand i cant say enough good about york region but its a different story on the other hand when york region authorized development in vandorf why did the region allow substandard wells to be built asked mr scott when it became a problem why are area homeowners being asked to pay for a regioncaused problem he added york regional officials view the situation quite differently sub standard wells that are too shallow or golf courses are not the culprits officials are insisting york region pumps water from four wells locat ed in aurora wells draw water from the surrounding area including from vandorf because of dry weather the water level is low causing area wells to go dry explained lloyd lemon water resource protection officer for york region the region responds to the water shortage problem by lowering the pumps deeper into the wells meanwhile one of the homes locat ed on marjorie had a 800gallon drum delivered two weeks ago lower wells lowering the wells from the sec ond aquifer into the third aquifer might be an option on some prop erties in vandorf said mr lemon as well the situation may warrant study to better understand the acquifer system he said staff photosjoerd witteveen mario frocione of mccowan road in markham with the water tank in front of his home and i get to drink it and i get to cook with it and shower with it he said of the water york region should fix water problems councillor from page 1 of the first to receive a tank other wells started going dry this summer some of them in dickson hill a tiny hamlet bordering whitchurchstouffville sandra and peter auciello of dickson hill road came back from holidays in july to find their 120footdeep well which they paid to drill six years ago was dry the sewer contractor mcnally international inc installed a holding tank the same day but water deliv eries have been inconsistent since the couple said i dont want to go a year and then find out nobodys taking responsibility for this mr auciello added water in massive amounts is being pumped away from sewer line construction deep below 16th avenue west of hwy 48 in the town work expected to last three years if we continue into the fall without a rise in water levels the region is going to have to come hack with some different answers frank scarpitti markhams deputy mayor and the regions planning chairperson said mcnally is supply ing water to anyone who needs it and the region will determine responsibility for the dry wells regional officials have suggested local golf courses and a drierthannormal summer may have helped lower water levels people must wait a few weeks to see if levels rebound mr scarpitti said if we continue into the fall without a rise in water levels theyre going to have to come back with some different answers mr scarpitti said the region hadnt expected sewer dewatering to affect any area north of major mackenzie drive but some residents say the region failed to pay enough attention to groundwater complexities in the town before work began this spring residents point out that last year a bolton ont company found complex and unpredictable distribu tion of aquifers and sand and gravel lenses in the town would present potential problems for construction projects deep underground there are many examples in markham and neigh bouring municipalities where failure to understand groundwater conditions has led to costly remediation the report from beatty and associates says regional officials will speak to town councillors about the issue at a public meeting tuesday at 11 am ward 6 councillor dan horchik wants the region to warn residents of cachet woods an estate subdivision west of warden avenue of possible problems before phase 2 of the sewer project proceeds and dewaters other areas east of kennedy road residents would be irate if our wells go dry he predicted thornhill councillor erin shapero said the region should fix the residents problems before continuing the project residents werent given enough informa tion about the construction process she argued recent- iy the region has admitted the dewatering caused a stream which flows into rouge river tributary south of 16th avenue to disappear this year during construction of another section of the sewer last year on ninth line mcnally investigated com plaints from 15 homes where wells failed and then sup plied water in tanks to six the region maintains groundwater levels have rebounded substantially since work in the area was completed we 9 like to make one thing perfectly clear llx bochner dr harold a stein dr albert cheskes dr raymond m stein your vision eye institute schedule your free lasik evaluation 905 4702020 wwwbochnercom 147 main stoeet unionville