WELLINGTON COUNTY – Wellington Water Watchers is renewing its call for the Ontario government to reject proposed water-taking permits for bottling operations at the former Nestlé and BlueTriton sites in Erin and Puslinch.
In a news release from Wellington Water Watchers, the organization says the wells are now owned by Ice River Springs through its subsidiary, White Wolf Property Management Inc., which is seeking renewed permits to extract groundwater from two local wells.
“If approved at the proposed maximums, the permits would allow 1.113 million litres of groundwater to be extracted each day in Erin and 986,400 litres per day in Puslinch – more than two million litres a day for bottled-water production for the next 10 years. The Town of Erin and Township of Puslinch have already requested an extension from the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks to properly review the permit requests,” a news release states.
Sarah Alexander, Executive Director of Water Watchers, says the organization has been opposing commercial water extraction in the area for nearly two decades.
“In a time of escalating climate disruption and growing water insecurity, it is irresponsible to continue granting private companies like Ice River Springs long-term permits to extract from critical, shared water sources, to package it in polluting plastics, and to profit from its sale,” Alexander said.
The wells have been at the centre of community debate for more than 20 years, dating back to Nestlé’s operation of the bottling facilities.
After Nestlé sold its North American water bottling operations in 2021, BlueTriton later announced it was leaving Ontario’s water-bottling industry and put its wells and facilities up for sale.
Wellington Water Watchers says several local municipalities, along with representatives from Six Nations, sought to acquire the water sources for public use.
“In 2025, Centre Wellington successfully purchased the controversial Middlebrook well, but efforts to acquire the Erin and Puslinch water sources were ultimately unsuccessful, as Ice River Springs later announced their purchase of the sights for continued water profiteering,” the group said.
Dani Lindamood, who has been involved with the campaign since 2019, says the Middlebrook purchase showed another possible path for the wells.
“Centre Wellington proved there is another path for these wells: public ownership, public benefit, and water kept in the hands of the community. That’s the future we should be building toward, not handing these wells from one bottled-water company to the next. It’s a crime that Six Nations, Erin, and Puslinch were not allowed to purchase them,” Lindamood said.
Water Watchers also says the existing permits were transferred to Ice River when the properties were sold, without what the organization describes as public consultation, Indigenous consent, or a provincial review.
Lindamood says groundwater needs to be treated as a finite resource.
“Groundwater recharges at varying rates and can be incredibly slow by human time-scales. It’s precious and finite. When groundwater is extracted, bottled, and shipped away, the water leaves the watershed,” she said.
She also raised concerns about Ontario’s current water-taking permit system and called for greater consideration of Indigenous treaty rights.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council at Six Nations has previously opposed commercial water extraction in the area.
Water protector Makasa Looking Horse Henry said the community continues to oppose increased water extraction.
“Right now, they’re trying to take every single thing that they can and they’re trying to take more water,” Henry said. “And so we’re just trying to fight with everything we have to protect our waters and our lands. They go hand in hand.”
The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks posted the proposed permits for Erin and Puslinch on the Environmental Registry of Ontario on August 28.
The current public comment period runs until September 27.
Water Watchers is encouraging residents to participate in the consultation process and is calling on the province to reject the proposed permits, extend the comment period and introduce a province-wide ban on what it calls water profiteering.
Alexander says the current 30-day consultation period isn’t enough.
“Thirty days to comment on a decision that could authorize perpetual groundwater extraction is a profound imbalance,” Alexander said. “If municipalities need more time to understand and respond to these proposals, Indigenous nations and the public deserve that same opportunity. Water is life. Water is too important for everyone to rush the process.”
