The Region of Queens says its reservoir is getting low, so it’s asking customers to use less water. (Photo via SneakyElbow via Pixabay)
The Region of Queens is asking its municipal water customers to restrict their usage to deal with drought conditions, as system-wide leaks appear to worsen.
The municipality posted a notice on its Facebook page on Tuesday asking the 1,200 water users in Liverpool and Brooklyn to conserve water immediately.
The post said that water levels in the Town Lake Reservoir have been dropping because of months-long drought conditions. The region did not mention a chronic system-wide leak problem that outside consultants have said gives the region a poor rating of water loss volumes compared to Canadian and international standards.
Mayor Scott Christian has told QCCR that staff regularly monitor the reservoir’s levels. About two weeks ago, Christian said water levels were still fine.
The region is asking people to limit their lawn and garden watering, fix any leaky faucets, take shorter showers and run dishwashers and washing machines with only full loads.
The Region of Queens Water Utility is asking the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board for a 106 per cent increase in water rates, or about a $348-a-year hike. In documents filed with the board, a consultant hired by the region says “there is excessive leakage within the (water) system”.
Another report done for the region in 2024 found that the water system was losing more than 611,000 cubic metres, or 611 megalitres, per year due to leaks. Customers were using about 303,000 cubic metres, or 303 megalitres per year.
That represents 69.1 per cent of total water supply. In 2021, that rate was 60.3 per cent.
Region of Queens Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton and Mayor Scott Christian at Tuesday’s regular council meeting. (Region of Queens YouTube channel)
The Region of Queens is sitting on a $1.385-million surplus from last year, but Mayor Scott Christian says the news isn’t as great as it may sound.
“I think a lot of the surplus is on the back of major capital projects that were intended, not getting complete,” he told QCCR.
“So I certainly applaud our finance department and their approach in managing our organization’s finances. But we have this challenge where we’re budgeting money for projects that are really important for the community and we’re just not delivering in a timely way. We need to take a hard look at that and make sure that we are spending the money in the budget that’s going to lead to important projects and progress for residents and for visitors in Queens County.”
The region’s finance director Joanne Veinotte presented the audited financial statements for 2024/25 at Tuesday evening’s council meeting.
She said the region ended the fiscal year with a surplus of $1,385,705, helped along by higher-than-expected tax revenue and returns on the region’s investments. Expenses were lower because of unfilled positions and capital projects not yet finished.
Veinotte also said the Region of Queens Water Utility recorded a lower-than-expected deficit – some 42 per cent less than budgeted, for a saving of almost $185,000.
Even with a higher-than-expected budget surplus and a lower water utility deficit, Christian said he’s not sure how that will affect the region’s upcoming water rate hearing.
“The numbers that are driving the proposed increase to the water rate are modeling sort of well into the future,” he said.
“I can’t answer if there is good reason to go back and challenge any of the assumptions that were used in generating those projected operating expenditures on the water utility. I’m not sure yet.”
The municipality has requested a 106 per cent increase for most of the 1,200 customers in Liverpool and Brooklyn who are on the municipal water supply.
Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board hearings are scheduled for Wed., Nov. 19 at 10:30 a.m. in council chambers at the region’s office.
The region hired consultants G.A. Isenor and Blaine Rooney to prepare its water rate study as part of its application to the regulatory board.
Some are about whether the region knows if people will be able to afford the expected $348-a-year increase for most residential customers.
It also asked the region to submit a revised rate study lowering the financial impact on customers and spreading it out over three years instead of imposing most of the increase in the first year.
So far, there is one registered intervenor in the rate hearing. The Queens Community Health Board is concerned how the increased water expenses will affect the broader health and well-being of residents.
Christian said the proposed increases are important to put the water utility back on sound financial footing.
“We want to get our costs in order and run the water utility in a solvent way that’s aligned to our obligations as a water utility operator, and so the sooner that we can get our costs in order the better.”
Even so, Veinotte told councillors on Tuesday evening that by the time the hearing happens and the regulator makes its decision, any rate increases likely won’t take effect until 2026.
To look at all the documents filed so far as part of the region’s water rate application, use this link and enter M12363 in the field.
The Region of Queens Water Utility has proposed increasing water rates by more than 100 per cent. (Bluewater Sweden via Unsplash)
Hearing dates have been set for the Region of Queens water rate hike application, as customers brace for their costs to double.
Joanne Veinotte, the region’s director of finance, told councillors in June that the water utility needs to bring revenue in line with costs immediately. The Region of Queens Water Utility’s 1,233 customers in Liverpool and Brooklyn bear the costs of the service.
“These increases translate to an average annual increase of 106 per cent in the initial year, 3.8 in Year 2 and 2.7 in Year 3,” she said.
“Over the last several years, the utility has struggled operationally with staffing, and the treatment plant was heavily damaged in July 2023 during a severe thunderstorm that destroyed a large amount of sensitive and expensive instrumentation and equipment at the site.”
The Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board has scheduled a public hearing for Thurs., Oct. 9 at 10:30 a.m. in council chambers on White Point Road.
An evening session starting at 6 is also scheduled if it’s needed.
People can speak at the hearing, but they must register with the board by Sept. 17. Residents can also send written comments to the clerk of the board at PO Box 1692, Unit M, Halifax, NS B3J 3S3, by email at board@novascotia.ca, or by fax at 902-424-3919. The deadline for written submissions is also Sept. 17.
People can request formal standing as an intervenor in the hearing. That allows you to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses. The deadline for applications for intervenor status is Aug. 22.
The region hired consultants G.A. Isenor and Blaine Rooney to prepare its water rate study for the regulatory board.
They found that the water utility will rack up a deficit of just over $1 million by the end of 2025/26, if rates don’t increase immediately. That shortfall will swell to $3.344 million by 2027/28 without higher charges.
For residential customers, the average quarterly bill is now $82.61. That could rise to $169.66 this year, $174.63 in 2026/27 and $177.39 in 2027/28.
The average customer currently pays $330.44 a year. If the rate hikes are approved, that will rise to $678.64 annually in the first year and $709.56 after three years.
The annual fire protection charge paid by the municipality, currently $201,531, could increase by 99.3 per cent to $401,599 for 2025/26, $495,931cfor 2026/27 and $503,625 for 2027/28.
Queens water customers had to endure an almost nine-week boil water order in summer 2023. That was after a lightning strike heavily damaged the water treatment plant.
The region gave a one-time 70 per cent discount on water bills, after public demand.
This time, though, customers likely won’t get a break from significant increases to their water bills.
The region claimed in a news release in June that its customers pay the lowest rates in Nova Scotia.
The new rates would put it in line with the Town of Lunenburg, but higher than the Town of Bridgewater and the Cape Breton region.
Region of Queens Mayor Scott Christian said comparing rates in Queens to other municipalities isn’t as straightforward as it seems.
“This proposed change to the rate, it brings us into alignment with a lot of ‘like’ municipalities, a lot of our neighbouring municipalities who have water utility systems. So I think that is important to understand what we look like in comparison to a lot of the other municipal units around us.”
The regulatory and appeals board has the power to set rates as requested, order a lower increase or an even higher one.
The Region of Queens is recommending that water rates should double to deal with rising deficits. (Rick Conrad)
Most residents in Liverpool and Brooklyn will likely have to pay more than double what they pay now for water.
The 1,233 customers of the Region of Queens Water Utility will be on tap to pay an average of 106 per cent more this year to stem rising deficits.
Under a rate proposal to the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board, most customers who now pay $75.61 every three months would have to pay $170.32.
Region of Queens councillors approved the three-year water rate study at their meeting on Tuesday evening.
Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR that the large proposed increase as of Oct. 1 will help dam mounting deficits at the municipality’s water utility.
“But the biggest challenge that we were looking at was this structural, perpetual, persistent, operating deficit where the thing would be in a deficit position, more and more and more with each passing year. … It just put us in a position really, where we’re recovering enough revenue from the water utility to run it.”
2021 was the last time rates for the region’s water utility were reviewed. They were set for the following three years until 2024. The region has been holding the line on rates since then, but it has racked up a deficit of about $516,000.
If rates don’t increase, that deficit is projected to swell to $3.344 million by 2027/28.
The costs of the utility are borne by its users.
The region hired two consulting firms to conduct the three-year rate study. They found that revenues have to rise immediately by more than $430,000.
The proposed average increases in years 2 and 3 are 3.8 per cent and 2.7 per cent.
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton said Queens water customers had been paying some of the lowest rates in the province.
“I just want to note that because 106 per cent is significant, but when you look at it as a whole, our water rates are really too low, which is what is prompting us to go through this process.”
If the proposed rates are accepted by the provincial regulator, it would put Queens in line with the Town of Lunenburg, which has an unmetered rate for residential customers.
But the new levies would be higher than those charged in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and the Town of Bridgewater.
A staff report for council prepared by Adam Grant, director of infrastructure, and Joanne Veinotte, director of finance, partially blames the heavy damage sustained at the water treatment plant by a lightning strike in July 2023. An insurance claim covered only part of the damage, according to the report.
The lightning strike led to a boil-water advisory for water customers that lasted almost nine weeks.
After public demand for a break on rates, the region gave a one-time 70 per cent discount on water bills.
Grant and Veinotte also point out in the report that the utility has struggled operationally for years.
Knowing that water users would be on the hook for much higher rates, Queens councillors earlier this year created a $15,000 fund to give rebates to low-income residents.
Christian told councillors that regulators don’t allow separate rates for low-income households.
“But what we are trying to do is find effective and creative solutions to provide a rebate to those customers who cannot bear the financial impact of increased water rates.”
Customers will have a chance to participate in the provincial regulator’s public hearing once dates are set.
Customers of the Region of Queens Water Utility will see their rates rise. (Kawita Chitprathak via Pixabay)
Municipal water customers in Liverpool and Brooklyn could see their rates double.
The Region of Queens is almost ready to submit its water rate application to the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board.
Councillors are set to discuss a report from senior staff at their meeting on Tuesday evening.
2021 was the last time rates for the region’s water utility were reviewed. They were set for the following three years until 2024. The region has been holding the line on rates since then, but it has racked up a deficit of about $516,000.
If rates don’t increase, the water utility’s deficit is projected to swell to $3.344 million by 2027/28.
According to a three-year water rate study done by G.A. Eisnor Consulting Limited and Blaine S. Rooney Consulting Limited, the utility needs revenues to jump immediately by more than $1.6 million to stem the tide of rising deficits.
The staff report for council prepared by Adam Grant, director of infrastructure, and Joanne Veinotte, director of finance, blames the heavy damage sustained at the water treatment plant by a lightning strike in July 2023. An insurance claim partially covered the damage, according to the report.
But Grant and Veinotte also point out that the utility has struggled operationally for years.
The lightning strike in summer 2023 led to a boil-water advisory for water customers that lasted almost nine weeks.
After public demand for a break on rates, the region gave a one-time 70 per cent discount on water bills in 2023.
The region has been warning for the past year that its 1,233 customers should prepare to pay much more for water.
The water rate study done for the region recommends an average increase in rates of 106 per cent immediately, 3.8 per cent in 2026/27 and 2.7 per cent in 2027/28.
Once councillors approve the rate study, it will be submitted to the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board, which will schedule a public rate hearing.
The public will be allowed to give their input on the proposed rates at the hearing.
