By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The blue-green algae bloom which made the water of Missisquoi Bay undrinkable and unsafe for swimming at the end of summer was “nothing new” for Saint-Armand Mayor Caroline Rossetti.

The water treatment plant in Philipsburg, the bayside village which merged with Saint-Armand in 1999, is owned by the city of Bedford and supplies water to Bedford, Saint-Armand, Bedford Township and part of Stanbridge Station. The plant is the only plant in Quebec that draws drinking water from Lake Champlain. “Every time there’s a heat wave, we get the cyanobacteria again,” Rossetti said. “It costs a lot to treat the water, and even when we do treat it and it’s considered drinkable, it might still smell fishy.”

The mid-September algal bloom made headlines around the province. “The lake turns green every summer…and it’s kind of sad that it has taken this long to have some sort of reaction,” Rossetti said. “I’m happy that Bedford and Clarenceville and Venise-en-Québec are joining forces with us to say there’s a problem.” Bedford Mayor Claude Dubois, Rossetti and the Organisme du Bassin versant de la Baie Missisquoi (OBVBM) have linked the growth of the blue-green algae blooms to phosphorus runoff, mainly agricultural, and campaigned to reduce farmers’ use of phosphorus. However, longer, warmer summers and stagnant water in the bay don’t help.

Dubois and Rossetti have been among those working toward getting a new pipe built, to draw water from a deeper and less stagnant part of Lake Champlain. That’s easier said than done. “Water quality is provincial jurisdiction, navigable waterways are federal, and we’re also one of the few lakes on an international border,” Rossetti summarized.

Rossetti said she had been in contact with Brome-Missisquoi MP Pascale St-Onge, MNA Isabelle Charest and Iberville MNA Audrey Bogemans to try to clear some of the bureaucratic obstacles that stood in the way of getting the new pipe built.

Charest said the “Missisquoi Bay situation” had worrisome impacts on water quality, on access to water and on the region’s socioeconomic vitality, and that she, Bogemans and representatives from the provincial environment ministry had been in touch with town officials in Bedford, Saint-Armand, Stanbridge Station and Pike River to discuss water quality improvement efforts.

“Since this is a cross-border lake, the authorization to move the water intake further into the bay is up to the federal government,” she said. “This step must be resolved first.”

“As soon as the City of Bedford needs the support of the Quebec Ministry of Municipal Affairs to replace the water intake, Ms. Charest will support their request related to the construction of a new pipeline,” added a spokesperson for Charest, Maryse Dubois.

St-Onge, for her part, did not directly address the idea of replacing the pipe. “We know how essential this source of drinking water is for the region, and we are closely monitoring the progress of this issue. As soon as Minister St-Onge, as an MP, was informed of this issue, she committed to addressing it. Collaborative discussions have been initiated with several mayors, as well as with communities, municipalities and organizations to find the best possible solution,” Charles Thibault-Béland, a spokesperson for St-Onge, told the BCN in a statement.