Published October 25, 2023

By Madeline Kerr

It’s been called “magical,” “iconic” and “essential.” It’s a destination for out-of-towners and indispensable for numerous locals. It’s been threatened and defended and discussed more times in the pages of this newspaper than we can count. And, at the time of publication, it remains under a boil-water advisory that has stretched on for months.

It’s a local truism: Wakefielders love their spring. The natural water source is fed by the hills that surround it, and thousands of residents have come to rely on its steady flow as their main source of water, either year-round or during power outages, which have become increasingly frequent.

The spring, located on Valley Drive near the Hwy 105 roundabout, was closed through much of this summer due to contamination from coliforms, and since Aug. 18 it’s been under a boil-water advisory that La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux said cannot be lifted until two back-to-back tests confirm a total absence of coliform particles. Coliform bacteria, which includes e-coli, are organisms that are present in the environment and in the feces of all warm-blooded animals and humans. Testing for coliforms, including for e-coli, is conducted twice a month; the results are made public via the municipality website.

Although the cause of this specific contamination is unknown, many have worried about – and some have fought fiercely to protect – the spring’s health over the years. To bring newcomers up-to-date and to give long-timers a refresher, here is a brief history of Wakefield’s love affair with its spring.

The spring is moved, 1986

Few seem to know that the spring is officially named “The Lorne Shouldice Spring” after the late municipal councillor who helped secure its safe relocation when the source was threatened by road construction on Hwy 105 in the 1980s. Shouldice and others worried that the spring was being contaminated by pollutants seeping from the construction site and also feared it would be paved over by the Ministry of Transportation Quebec (MTQ) if it wasn’t routed elsewhere. Shouldice’s resolution was ultimately successful and in 1986 the MTQ agreed to move the spring to its current location on Valley Drive using pipes that fed it under the road for approximately 100 metres.

Save our Spring, 2009

The extension of Hwy 5 posed serious concerns for environmentalists in the Hills during the 2000s. Around 2009, well-known photographer Helene Anne Fortin founded Save our Spring (SOS) Wakefield, a committee that pledged to, well, save the spring. At that time, locals feared that the rock blasting required to extend the highway would pollute the aquifer that feeds the spring and many nearby wells. In 2010, Natural Resources Canada concluded that the dynamiting would have an impact, which SOS used to put pressure on the council and MTQ to carry out more environmental studies. The report also estimated that the highway development would decrease the aquifer’s supply by 25 per cent.

Mock funeral, 2012

In 2012, SOS organized a mock funeral to protest the “death of the spring,” which they feared would be the result of excavation of the sandpit near Rockhurst Road. Around 50 locals, dressed in black, formed a procession behind a black wooden casket, carried by six young pallbearers. Masham resident Bettina Koschade attended the funeral with her whole family. She recalled there was a shared feeling that “the [spring] is a vital source for a lot of people, and community forms out of gathering places that are open to everyone…what would we do if it was gone? We were protesting the reckless treatment of something so essential.”

Bussière sees dollar signs, 2014

Two years later, former La Pêche mayor and current MNA, Robert Bussière put forward a plan to bring in an outside company to bottle some of the water from the spring. He said that funds raised from selling the water could be put towards community projects. SOS sprung into action again and protested the idea. Speaking to CBC News at the time, SOS chair Peter Andrée said he believed “some things should be kept in common…and celebrated in common as our common resource.” Eventually the notion was rejected and a resolution was adopted that included many of SOS’s proposals, such as keeping the spring free for all to access, prohibiting the use of de-icing calcium on Valley Drive upstream of the spring, maintaining the structure surrounding the spring and carrying out regular testing of the water.

A deluge of stories

The spring has sourced countless rumours over the years. One, divulged by Wakefield Coun. Claude Giroux with the caveat that it may only be an “urban legend” is that a regional wine-maker used to drive up to the spring at night and take away 450 gallons of water to supply all of his wine-making. In 2015, the Low Down reported that two individuals alleged they saw the spring, which has had a constant flow for as long as anyone can remember, stop running for several minutes. And of course, the rumour that Wakefield’s spring is the freshest, best-tasting water around (when it isn’t under a boil advisory) has reached to far-off places, bringing in an estimated 300 cars a day at times from Ottawa and beyond. Although, as locals know, that isn’t just a rumour — it’s the truth, and it’s worth protecting.

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