Several Quebec municipalities have to import water due to drought

Southern Quebec is thirsty, and the 15 to 20 millimeters of rain that fell on Tuesday won’t quench it.

Several Quebec municipalities have resorted to importing water by tanker truck, freight transport on the St. Lawrence River is affected, and many boaters are having difficulty winterizing their boats because the water level is too low to reach the cranes at their marinas.

Two Months Below Normal

The situation is extraordinary, as we’re talking about two consecutive months—August and September—of significantly below-normal precipitation in southern Quebec, explains meteorologist Peter Kimbell of Environment Canada. “The drought began in August, but the water shortage really became more severe in September because less than 50 per cent of normal precipitation fell.”

The figures he reels off are revealing: Montreal received 70 millimeters (mm) of rain in August, compared to the annual average of 94 mm, and then 33 mm in September, compared to the average of 83 mm. Quebec City received 68 mm in August and 47 mm in September (August and September averages, respectively, 104 mm and 175 mm). However, the Eastern Townships were the most affected region, with the city of Sherbrooke receiving a meager 14 mm of rain in August (compared to an annual average of 138 mm) and 52 mm in September (average 110 mm).

This problem is observed in all southern regions of the province. In a letter to The Canadian Press, the Quebec Ministry of the Environment noted that “the flows of several rivers are currently considered low and are below average, or even close to historical lows, for this date. This is particularly the case for rivers in the southern regions of Quebec (Montérégie, Estrie, Centre-du-Québec, Chaudière-Appalaches) and several rivers north of the St. Lawrence as well.”

Water imported by truck

While agricultural producers have been sounding the alarm for some time about the effects of the 2025 drought on their crops, it is now the municipalities that are worried about a water shortage for their populations. One example among many others: the approximately 1,000 residents of the village in the heart of the municipality of Saint-Ferdinand, in central Quebec, are served by a water supply system, and Mayor Yves Charlebois explains that “that’s where we have a supply problem.” We have wells located about 5 km from our reservoir, and they’re no longer supplying water. In fact, they’re supplying water because we’re currently buying four 32,000-liter trucks of water per day, which come from Victoriaville and Thetford Mines.”

To date, the municipality has brought in about 20 trucks this summer, costing $900 each. Mayor Charlebois points out that Saint-Ferdinand suffered the same fate in 2021, but “it’s very rare. Four years ago, this had never happened before.”

Appeal to the Government

The municipality of Saint-Alexandre, in Montérégie, passed a resolution at the recent conference of the Fédération québécoise des municipalités (FQM), citing, among other things, the obligation to transport very large quantities of water by truck to replenish their water supply and concerns surrounding groundwater recharge. The resolution calls on Quebec to implement “measures to support communities with drinking water supply problems” and to plan for “the most pessimistic scenarios regarding the level of precipitation in the measures they intend to deploy.”

Saint-Alexandre Mayor Yves Barrette also has to bring in trucks to keep the municipality’s three wells from dropping to levels that could damage the pumps. A fourth well is to be added by the end of this year. “With the current precipitation we’re experiencing this season, we’re not delivering,” he says.

His resolution was adopted because, he says, “it’s affecting everyone. In Gaspésie, they’re having problems. On the North Shore, they’re also having some problems.” If the sky doesn’t release more water, whether this fall or this winter in the form of snow, “there’s nothing to recharge the water tables. This is extremely worrying for everyone. What’s also very worrying is the level of the Richelieu River, which is very low.” The Richelieu River supplies water to 300,000 people, so if the water intakes had to be exposed to the air, you can imagine the problem that could cause.”

Lighter cargo ships on the river

The St. Lawrence River is at its lowest level since 2012, according to Renée Larouche, Director of Communications for the Port of Montreal, “but this is still not an unusual situation,” she explains. The Port, in fact, handles roughly the same number of ships as usual, but “shipowners have adjusted their cargo according to the water levels. They simply put fewer containers on their cargo ships.”

So, it’s the shipowners who are bearing the brunt in this case. In a statement sent to The Canadian Press, Saul Polo, CEO of the St. Lawrence Shipowners (ASL), confirmed that “for operators of larger vessels, lower water levels may sometimes require lightering cargo to ensure safe navigation. However, most companies have implemented proactive strategies, including increasing the number of voyages in the spring and summer.”

Obviously, transporting less cargo with more vessels comes with costs. ASL confirmed that since cargo transportation contracts are negotiated in advance and by the ton, these prices do not vary, and it is therefore the shipowners who absorb the additional expense. Also, ships take longer to make the journey through the river because they must slow down to avoid what pilots call the “squat effect,” meaning the faster a ship goes, the more it sinks into the water. By slowing down, they reduce their draft, a maritime expression referring to the height of a vessel’s submerged portion.

Chaos in the Marinas

However, it is recreational boaters who are experiencing the most significant problems with the abnormally low level of the St. Lawrence River. The situation is critical in many marinas, where boats with deeper keels, particularly sailboats, are unable to reach the boat ramps to be launched and the dockside cranes to be lifted and stored for the winter.

It is precisely for this reason that, on Sept. 25, the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board announced that it will open the floodgates on Oct. 18 to increase the outflow from Lake Ontario by 500 cubic meters per second, “in order to temporarily raise the water level of Lake Saint-Louis on Oct. 18 (with the aim) of making it easier for people to launch their pleasure craft.” This is the first time since 2012 that the Council has been forced to act in this way.

However, Oct.18 is a week too late, according to a source in the marina network who was not authorized to speak to the media. “The problem is that we can’t wait until the end of October. Everyone takes their boats out at Thanksgiving.” In marinas in the Montreal area, the source continued, “it’s chaos everywhere: Lachine, Valleyfield, Deux-Montagnes, Pointe-Calumet. People are looking for solutions because if the boats stay there for the month of October, they won’t be able to get out until the water levels rise.”

In Longueuil, the marina decided to carry out temporary dredging to dig a corridor to the cranes on the docks so that the boats can be taken out during the upcoming long weekend. This busy marina has a permit for this type of dredging and we expect to see around a hundred boats come out at the end of the week to close the books on the season.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews