{"id":7931,"date":"2024-11-29T15:39:40","date_gmt":"2024-11-29T19:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=7931"},"modified":"2024-12-02T17:40:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T21:40:07","slug":"liverpool-water-issues-could-balloon-costs-for-mixed-doubles-curling-trials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2024\/11\/29\/liverpool-water-issues-could-balloon-costs-for-mixed-doubles-curling-trials\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixed doubles curling Olympic trials could be hammered by Liverpool water issues"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Organizers say Liverpool water conservation measures could add unexpected costs to the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials Dec. 30 to Jan. 4 at Queens Place Emera Centre. (Pixabay)<\/p><\/div>\n

Water conservation measures in Liverpool may affect the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials being held in the area at the end of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Event organizers may be on the hook for unexpected costs to replace the water they use during the event, which runs from Dec. 30 to Jan. 4 at Queens Place Emera Centre<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Region of Queens has been asking municipal water users to cut their consumption in half. Because of a lack of fall rainfall, water levels in the Town Lake Reservoir are uncharacteristically low.<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Buy tickets online through Ticketpro<\/a><\/p>\n

Greg Thorbourne, chairman of the Liverpool Championship Host Society, <\/span>said this week that if the area doesn\u2019t get substantial amounts of rain soon, the group may have to truck in water to replace what they\u2019ll use during the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s being asked to use 50 per cent less and they expect us to use 50 per cent less and\/or replace the water we use. So we\u2019re trying to implement plans now to make that happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s going to be a big cost if we have to go that route. We\u2019re doing everything we can, praying for rain, fingers crossed and toes crossed that it doesn\u2019t happen. But if it does, we have to be ready for it and buy water from somewhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The area got about 45 millimetres of rain on Thursday, according to Environment Canada. It\u2019s unclear if that\u2019s enough to help. Nobody from the region was available for an interview this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though the trials are being held at the municipally owned Queens Place, Thorbourne said the host society may have to truck in water from an approved source to replenish the reservoir.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seven teams have qualified already for the event. Up to 16 teams are expected to compete in Liverpool for the chance to represent Canada in mixed doubles curling at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.<\/span><\/p>\n

It appeared earlier in the week that the event may have received an unexpected financial boost.<\/span><\/p>\n

The J&W Murphy Foundation donated almost $149,927 to the Region of Queens. The foundation suggested the money be used to enhance curling infrastructure, programs and services in Liverpool.<\/span><\/p>\n

In June, Mersey Seafoods also announced<\/a> its sponsorship of the event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mersey Seafoods is owned by the Murphy family. But it is a separate entity from the foundation.<\/span><\/p>\n

At their meeting on Monday, councillors voted to give $112,427 to the Liverpool Curling Club and $37,500 to the host society.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thorbourne said the funding from the foundation via the region was money they had expected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The foundation\u2019s Lisa Murphy told QCCR that it can donate only to registered charities and other qualified organizations. The region is one of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo we expressed a preference and that\u2019s all we did and then after that, we step back,\u201d she said. <\/span>\u201cAs the donor, we can\u2019t insist on it and we can\u2019t get a refund if they don\u2019t do it. The separation has to be there. It has to be entirely in the control of the region.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There was some confusion at the council meeting on Monday about the Murphy Foundation donation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coun. Courtney Wentzell asked whether it was the foundation\u2019s wish that the money go to both groups.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s not a coincidence that it\u2019s the exact same money to a tee that Murphys gave us and the curling club wants,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

CAO Cody Joudry said it\u2019s up to the region to decide how the money is spent.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any reason to hold onto any of it,\u201d Joudry said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thorbourne said any donations are appreciated as the event draws closer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just looking for support where we can get it,” he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a major event when you stop and think that the winner from here goes directly to the Olympics. For a small community like Liverpool, just to be involved in something of this magnitude, the community should be proud of putting it on.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnything you can do to help us out business-wise, if you can\u2019t afford to put up dollars and cents, maybe they can donate some food for the volunteers. There\u2019s all kinds of different ways you can help.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

About 100 volunteers have already signed up to help. Thorbourne said that if businesses or individuals want to contribute, they can contact him, Lorna MacPherson, Melissa Robinson, Ralph Gidney or Kim Whalen. They can also get in touch through the organizers’ Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Full event packages and single tickets are available from Queens Place Emera Centre or through Ticketpro<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to the audio version of this story below<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/curlingwatercostnov2924.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

QCCR acknowledges the support of the Community Radio Fund of Canada’s Local Journalism Initiative<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Water conservation measures in Liverpool may affect the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials being held in the area at the end of the year. Event organizers may be on the hook for unexpected costs to replace the water they use during the event, which runs from Dec. 30 to Jan. 4 at Queens Place Emera […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[2264,390,2662,392,2661,2660,39,2263,513,205,2663,351,24,2659,1626,2633,2279],"class_list":["post-7931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-canadian-mixed-doubles-curling-trials","tag-curling","tag-donor","tag-greg-thorbourne","tag-jw-murphy-foundation","tag-lisa-murphy","tag-liverpool","tag-liverpool-championship-host-society","tag-liverpool-curling-club","tag-mersey-seafoods","tag-olympic-trials","tag-queens-place-emera-centre","tag-region-of-queens","tag-sporting-event","tag-sports","tag-water-conservation","tag-winter-olympics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7931"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7946,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7931\/revisions\/7946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}