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Water will cost more, says councillor Continued from page 1 and agreeing, ‘Yes we need to conserve water.‘" Getting local residents to change their perception of water from an infinite to a finite resource could also help in the long run for a region that gets 75 per cent of its water from ground sources. Waterloo Region is one of the biggest municipalities in North America dependent on groundwater, and how it manages this limited resource will be a big factor in the healthy growth of the area that is expected to add another 250,000 people over the next 30 years. "A pipeline has all kinds of serious questions attached to it," said Strickland. "There are questions about whether it is an adequate use of resources, (whether) it will defer conservation efforts and so on. "Right now we‘ve bought five more years of avoiding the costs of a water pipeline." Regional council recently approved a 17.5 per cent increase to the wasteâ€"water rates and a 9.9 per cent increase to the water rates to pay for upgrades of those systems that might cost more than $800 million over the next decade. in addition to ballooning construction costs for water projects, like a $91 million upgrade of the wasteâ€"water treatment plant in the City of Waterloo, the region, which supplies local municipalities with water, has also had to adjust to new rules and reguâ€" lations brought in by the province after the Walkerton water inquiry. "We live in a postâ€"Walkerâ€" ton world," said Strickland. "There were many recomâ€" mendations made in the wake of Justice (David) O‘Connor‘s inquiry and senâ€" "A pipeline has all kinds of serious questions attached to it." â€" Sean Strickland regional councilior jor levels of government, preâ€" dominantly the province, have moved towards putting in regulations to ensure a safe water supply. "Local municipalities have had to respond to that by increasing investments in infrastructure and safety procedures." Part of upgrading that infrastructure will also bring more wells online and expand the capacity of the existing water system. "Water is going to cost us more dollars," said Strickâ€" land. "It‘s going to cost us more money to treat it and more money to take it out of the ground. "Out of those challenges, we‘ll come up with more forâ€" wardâ€"thinking approaches." health centres Friday, March 16", 9:30am to 8pm Luck of the Irish Day PLUS, Enter to Win our Grand Prize: 1 â€" $50 Boston Pizza Gift Certificate 1 â€" $100 Sangster‘s Health Centres Gift Certificate WATERLOQ CHRONICLE * Wednesday, March 14, 2 Waterloo Town Square phone: 880â€"0249 2007 * 5