Docket 7 Order of Approval 1914-01-14

7/30/2019 Docket 7 Order of Approval 1914-01-14

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INTERNATIONAL J O NT COMMISSION,

IN THE MATTER OF:THE APPLICATION OF THE GREATER WINNIPEG WATER

WATERS OF SHOAL LAKE (SITUATE IN THE PROVINCESOF ONTARIO AND MANITOBA, CANADA), I N PURSUANCEOF THE POWERS CONFERRED BY A N ACT OF THE PAR-LIANENT OF CANADA TO ENA BLE THE CITY OF WINNIPEGTO GET WATER OUTSIDE THE PROVINCE OF MANITOBA.

DISTRICT FOR THE APPROBAL OF THE USE OF THE

ORDER OF APPROVAL.

The application in this matter filed at Ottawa and Washington onthe 8th September, 1913; isin the following terms:To the Honourable ROBERT OQERS,Minister o PuGEic Worksf or the Dominion of Canada:The petitionof the Greater Winnipeg Water District humbly ahewethaa follows:1.Your petitioners are a Corporation duly created by an act of the legislative amem-bly of the Province of Manitoba, being chapter22o the statutesof said Province passedin3GeorgeV (1913), and brought into force by proclamation of the lieutenant governorin council onthe tenth day of J une, 1913, issued upon and after the vote mentioned in

sections86 to 89of mid act had been duly taken andwas answered affirmatively bysix-sevenths of the electors voting thereon.2. Your petitioners are desirous of obtaining the approval of the GovernmentofCanada for the use of the waters of Shoal Lake (situate in the Provinces of Ontario andManitoba) for domestic and sanitary purposes by the inhabitantsof the Greater Winni-peg Water District and forsuchpurposes the right, privilege, and power of constructinga syatemof waterworks with the pipe lineorintakepipeplaced in said Shoal Lake atorabout latitude 9 O 38 N., longitude 95 7 WW., in the Province of Ontario, and fromthere carried and connected by a pipe line through parts of the Provinces of Ontarioand Manitobatoa point or points in the Greater Winnipeg Water District; and for saidpurposes to exercise thepowera conferred by an act o the Parliament of Canadatoenable the cityof Winnipeg toget water outside the Province of Manitoba, whicheaidact waa pmsed in the sessionof 1912-13.3. Thewe of said water for the purposes aforesaid isrendered imperative in theopinionof your petitioners after careful examination by competent experts and authori-ties, owing t o the rapidly increasing population o the said Greater Winnipeg WaterDiatrict and the insecurity of the preeent artesian murce of mpply, andthediflicultieaand danger attending the use of the water of either o the rivers flowing throughthedistrict (Red and Aaainiboine Rivers).4. Your petitionerasubmit that th e uae and diversion of mid water from Shoal Lakefor eaidpurposewill not appreciably affect the level of the Lake of theWods, or inany way affect therightorability tonavigate said lake andwill not injuriously affectthe interests or rightsof anyparties.

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GREATER WINNIPEG WATER D STRI CT. 155. Your petitioners begtopoint out that the present populationof the Greater W i d-peg Water District isestimated at two hundred and twenty-five thousand souls and

that the population for the same territory at the census of 1901was only fifty thousand.6. Herewith are filed the following: Two tracings or maps showing the position ofShoal Lake and indicating generally the routeof the proposed pipe line fromthesaidlaketothe city o Winnipeg.

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APPL ICATION TO I NTERNATIONAL J O NT COMMISSION.7. I n view of clause l o o the said actof the Parliament of Canadaandthe con-nection o said Shoal Lake with the Lakeof theWoods,which latter lakeisa boundarywater under the terms o the waterways treaty between Great Britiain and the UnitedStates of Americaof January eleventh, nineteen hundred and nine, respecting boun-dary waters, your petitioners are diairous that the International J oint Commssionunder mid treaty should confirm your petitioners righttotake the water o Shoal Lake

for the purposes aforesaid, and do hereby request that you will transmit th i sapplicationt o the said commission, under rules6, 7,and8of said commission, accompanied with arequest that the commission take appropriate action thereon. For such purpose yourpetitioners forward herewith the following documents (in addition to those herein-before mentioned and in addition to the two originals o this paper intended for theapproval of your department).(a ) One duplicate original of this application for each of the secretaries of saidcommission.(b) One original tracing map (for each o said secretaries), showing the territory inquestionand indicating the general directionof the proposed pipe line (this is duplicateof the map herewith filed with your department).

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(c) Twenty-five printed copies o this application for each secretary (5 0 in all).(a ) Twenty-five white printa of said map foreach secretary (50in all).8. Your petitioners request that in transmitting this application and the accompany-ing papers to the Canadain and American secretaries of the commssion at Ottawa andWashington,respectively, thatyour department forward therewith your approval thereofunder the terms o rule numbered 8 of said commission.Your petitioners therefore pray:(1)That you will approve of said map under the provisions o section 3of said actof the Parliament o Canada, and(2) That you will transmit this application t o the Canadian and American secretariesof the International Joint Commssion in compliancewith ta rules, together with yourexpressed approval thereof and with your request thatthecommission take appropriateaction thereon.And your petitioners Will ever pray.

The approval of the minister of publ i c works of Canada, whichbears date the 25th day of August, 1913, reads as follows:I hereby approve of the annexed application by the Greater Winnipeg Water

District and of the map referredtotherein (the scaleof said map being, inmyopinion,sufficient).Duplicatesof saidappl i cat i onand of sai dmapare hereby transmitted to th e Inter,national Joint Comddon under the treaty between the Uni ted States and GeatBritan signed J anuary l lth, 1909, and I hereby request the commssion to takeappropriateaction thereon.Dated at Winnipeg, thi s twenty-Qth day of Augut, A. D. 1913.R. ROQERS,Ministmo Publicworke


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06 GBEATER WINNIPEG WATER DI STRI CT.J

Subsequently, at the hearing, a motion was made on behalf of theapplicant for leave to amend the application by inserting the wordsand Lake of the Woods in the second paragraph, after the wordManitoba, in the fourth paragraph after thewords Shoal-Lake,and in the seventh paragraph between the words Shoal L akeand the words for the purposes aforesaid.The United States Government, within the delays fixed by the rules,6led no statement in answer to the said application.On the 30th December, 1913, the municipal corporation of the townof Kenora filed a document styled Petition, addressed to thecom-mission and reading as follows:The petition of the municipal corporation o the towno Kenora humbly sheweth,asfollows:1.Your petitioner isa municipal corporation, situated upon and at the outlets ofthe Lakeof the Woods, and is largely dependent upon the lumbering navigation andwater-power interests thereon and connected therewith.2. The use o the water o Shoal Lake for the purposes and in the manner proposedunder the application othe Greater Winnipeg Water District, filed with the Inter-national J oint Commssiononthe 8th day o September, 1913,will divert large quan-tities of water from the Lake o the Woods (of which Shoal Lake is merely an arm)materinlly affecting the levelvof the Lakeo the Woods and the righe and interestso navigation thereon.3. Your petitioner being situated as aforesaid and being owner and otherwise inter-ested in valuable water powerson the outletsof said lake will be seriously affected bythe proposed diversion o such water from its natural course especially in low-water

periods.4. That such proposed diversion being from Shoal Lake will deprive such waterpowersof the special advantagesof a large natural storage reservoir (Shoal Lake) whichf i l l s up from the Lake o the Woodsinhigh-water seasons andflow backagain throughita narrow connecting channel during low-water periods thereby maintaining a moreuniform water level in the Lake of the Woods to the great advantage of such waterpowersaa well aa navigation.5. That such proposed diversion of water from Shoal Lakewill render much moredifficult and impracticable the successful vvorking out of any scheme or plan forregulating and maintaining uniformity of water levelaon the Lakeof the Woods forthe improvement and advantages o water powers, navigation, lumbering, summerresorts, and other intereatsof importance and benefit to the town o Kenora.6. That there isnoactual or substantial necessity for the applicants, the GreaterWinnipeg Water District, to obtain such water supply from Shoal Lake or divertwater therefrom for such purposes as proposed inasmuch as an ample supply of goodwater is easily available without interfering with or affecting the interests abovementioned:Yourpetitioner therefore prays:(a ) That the said application o the Greater Winnipeg Water District be not granted,approved, or confirmed.(a) That your petitioner be given notice o the date o hearing o the Said rtpplica-tionando such other proceedingsaa itmay please the commissionto order.

(c) That your petitioner bertbogranted leavetoberepresentedby counsel a t thehearingof the said application and toadduce evidence in supportof the allegationsabove containedmprovided for under the rules of procedureof thecomm ssi on.And your petitioner will ever pray.I


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QREATER WIXNIPEG WATEB DISTItIOT. 17The application came up for hearing at Washington, D. C., on the14th of January, when Isaac Campbell, Esq., K. C., appeared onbeha,lf of the applicant, George W. Koons, Esq., appeared onbehalf of the War Department of the United States, C. S.MacInnes,Esq. ,K. C., on behalf of the Government of the Dominionof Canadaand M an McLennan, on behalf of the municipal corporationof thetown of Kenora and the board of trade therof.Mr.Koonz,onbehalf of the War Departmentof the United States,

filed the following statement or brief:To the honourable, The International Joint Commssion.As counsel for the War Department in this regard the underaigned respectfullysubmits:The projectof the Greater Winnipeg Water District, pending before your honourablecommission, contemplates the diversionof the waters o Shoal Lake for domestic andsanitary purposes, and involves for the accomplishmento such diversion the placinginmid lake ofa systemof water works including pipe lines, intakes, and other appurte-nant etructures. The project has been approved by the minister of public worksofthe Dominion o Canada and the approval o your honorable commssion is sought byreason of the fact that Shoal Lakeconnects with the Lakeof the Woods, which latteris a boundary water within the terms of the treaty between the United States andGreat Britain proclaimedMay 13th,1910.11Shoal Lake is situated in the Provincesof Ontario and Manitoba, and the proposedwaterworks structures are to be located wholly within Canadian territory. The chiefconcernof the War Department with the project is the effect that the propoaed diver'sionwll haveon the level o the Lakeof the Q700ds, and consecpentlyonthenavi-gable capacity of the lake and its tributaries, which under present conditionswillbedirectly proportional to the amountof water diverted.It 9 understood that the present consumption of water in Winnipeg isa little leasthan 50 gallons per capita per day, and that the poaaiblemaximumconamption isplaced at 100gallons. Withthis maximum consumption and a population of 500,000,which i a more than double that of the present, the daily consumption would be5O 0oO 0oOgal l ons, which translated into streamflow means about 77 cubic feetpersecond. Thieflow would have but little effectonthe level o the Lakeof theWods,as ifkept up continuously foranentire year, and all other influences affecting the levelof thelakea mdisregarded,itwould lower the lakeonly three-fourthsof aninch. Theareaof the lake i s 1, 450square miles, of which 111square miles,or about8 per cent,are in Shoal Lake, and if .the latter should be entirely sepmted, the reservoir areawould be reduced onl y 8per cent.With respect to the proposed diversiononthe outflowof the lake, and henceonthewater powera there located, itmay be mid that there are approximately25,900 squaxemileain the watershedof the lake, and baaed upon the best eatimatee obtainable thereieaminimum flow of 2,660 second-feet. The proposed diversionof 77second-feet forthe Winnipeg water system is, therefore, lesethan3 per cent of theminimum flow,snd much smallerper cent of thenormal flowand t h i a amountwillberequiredonlywithmore than double the present population and double the present per capitacon-

It aapparentfromthe foregoing that itwillbe many years before the consumptionof water by the Greater Winnipeg Water Dietrictwill be great enough to lower theLakeof theWoods an appreciable amount or'before the maximum effecton theout-flowwil lbeaamuchaa 3per cent, and that the reservoir mea, if Shoal Lakewere eepa-

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-c sumption.


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08 C+REA!EER WINNIPEG WATER DIS!CRICT.rated, would be reduced only8per cent. A reductionof evenasmuchaa one inchona navigable depth of 8 to 10feet could scarcely be considered important and surelywould cause little injury to navigationon the Lakeof the Woods, andstill lesstothenavigable capacityof Rainy River.For the foregoing reasons the Wax Department makesnoobjection to the favorableconsideration by your honorable commssion of the applicationof the Greater Winni-peg Water District.It is deemed appropriateto add that in reaching this conclusion the War Depart-menthaaconsidered the projected diversion in its relationto the problemof fixing thelevel of the Lakeof the Woods and its tributaries, which isalsobefore your honorablecommssion for determination. While gfeatly interested in thisproblem, and intbultimate level to be fixed, and while fully recognizing that the authority which maybe constituted to supervise and maintain the level of the Lake of the Woods should

also control all usemof its waters, the War Department feels hat the proposed diversionby the Winnipeg Water District is so small a factorof the general problemas to bepractically insignificant,and that novalid reaaon exists for objecting to ita consum-mation.Mr. MacInnes read to the commission and produced in the recordcopy of an order of His Royal Highness the Governor General incouncil, dated the 3d dayof January, 1914,which is in the followingterms:

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HisRoyal Highness the Goveknor General in council.whereaaanapplication was recently made by the Greater Winnipeg Water District(a corporation created by aspecial act o the legislatureof Manitoba and on whichcertain powers were conferred by a special act of the Parliament of Canadapassedin1913, ch.208 of 3-4 GeorgeV) to the ministerof public works asking for the approval,under section3of the said act o the Parliament,of acertain mapof plan in relation tothe useof the watersof Shoal Lake, situated n the Provincesof Ontario and Manitoba,for domestic andSanitarypurposes by the inhabitantsof the Greater Winnipeg WaterDistrict, and requesting that the said application be transmittedto the InternationalJoint Commssion with the approval of the minister of public works and with therequest that the said commssion take appropriate action thereon;And whereaa the said application was transmitted by the minister of public workst o the Internatioanl Joint Commssion with his approval and with the request thatappropriate action be taken thereon;And whereas it appears that under the ruling subsequently made by the Inter-national Joint Commssion the existing rules of procedure o the said commssionrequirethatapprovalof suchamap or planaa is attachedt o the said application shouldh t e given by the Governor in council before consideration thereof by the saidcommission;And whereas after full consideration the conclusion has been reached that ShoalLake is notaboundary water within the definition thereof in the treaty between GreatBitanasd the United States relatingtoboundary waters, dated 11th January, 1909,or otherwise, but i tbas further appeared, however,thatthe said application is in sucht er ms that the diversionof water contemplated thereby may be suchaa toaffect thenatural level or flow of boundarywatersand the interestsof navigationof bothCanadaand the United States;And whereasithaa also appemd that the saidShoal Lake awithin the scopeof SD.outatandingreference o th e International JointCommbionunderArticle IX of theaaid treaty, relating t o "thewatersof th e Lakeof theWoods and the waters00win8into andfromthe lake;"

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GREATER WINNIPEG WATEB DSTRI CT. 19The secretaryof stateof external affairs, with the approval of the minister of publicworks, reports that Shoal Lake is not to be consideredaboundary water, but that t heinterestsof navigation and the level of boundary watersonboth sidesof the boundarymay possibly be affected, and that the said application covers matters connectedWitht h e investigation directed by the said referenceto the said commission, ArticleIXofthe said treaty. It thus appears desirable that the eaid application of the GreaterWinnipeg Water District relating to the useof the watersof Shoal Lake should be con-sidered and dealt with by the International Joint Commeaion.His Royal Highness the Governor General in council is therefore pleased to approveof the said plan (subject to such conditions and regulations as may be contained inany order in council as provided by section 9 of the said act of Parliament) in orderthat appropriate action whether by decision or report may be taken by the Inter-national Joint Commeaion, without awaiting the disposition of all matters covered

by the said reference under ArticleIX of the said treaty.*

RODOLPHOUDREAU,Clerk o thePrivy Council.Itwas established on behalf of the applicant that the Greater Winni-peg Water District was duly incorporated by a statuteof the Provinceof Manitoba, entitled The Greater Winnipeg Water District Act,being chapter 22, 3 George V, assented to on February 15, 1913.By the eighty-sixth section the said act was to come into force uponproclamation of the lieutenant governor in council. By a proclama-tion dated the loth June, 1913, the said act was duly brought intoforce, which proclamation was published in the Manitoba Gazette ofJ une21. By the act 3-4 GeorgeV, chapter 208 of the Parliamentofthe Dominion of Canada, power was given to the city of Winnipegfor the purposeof conveying from sources outside of the ProvinceofManitoba to the city of Winnipeg, water for the use of the municipalcorporation of the said city, hereinafter called the Corporation,and of the inhabitants of the said city, to lay, bui l d, construct,equip and maintain a line of conduit or pipe from the city of Winni-peg ,extending out of the Province of Manitoba and into any otherProvince, with all the powers incidental thereto, and under certainconditions mentioned in the said act. By section11of thesaid act,the powers granted thereby to the city of Winnipeg were to beextended to the Greater Winnipeg Water District so soon as thestatute of the Province of Manitoba, hereinabove mentioned, hadbeen brought into force by proclamation.By section 10 of the Dominion act, any order of the governorgeneral in council permitting the corporation to take any watersover which the Parliament of Canada has control or may for thepurposesof the act exercisecontrol, issubject inso far t-w it appliest o any waters sought to be affected, to the provisions of an ac t

relating to the establishment and expenses of the International Joint- Commission under the Waterways treaty of J anuary the eleGenth,nineteen hundred and nine, and to tlhesaid treaty.

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r'0 GREATER WINNIPEG WATER DISTRICT.The applicant filed the following order in council, approved byhi s honor the lieutenant governor of the Provinceof Ontario, on the2d October, 1913:The committee o council have had under consideration the annexed report othe honourable the minister o lands, forests, and mines, with referencet o the appli-cationof the Greater Winnipeg Water District, comprising the following municipalitiesin the Province o Manitoba, thatis to say:

Winnipeg having a population of. ....................................... 191,067St. Boniface (' (' (( ........................................ 9, 100. wcona( '( '( '(........................................ 1, 632

6, OOossiniboia (' '(Fort Gamy I' (' ('........................................ 3,000St. Vital (( " 6 L i ........................................ 1, 817Kildonan '( 'I (( (( ........................................ 2,075for permission to take water from Shoal Lakei n the district o Kenora for domestic andmunicipal purposes and advise that there be granted to the said Greater WinnipegWater District the right to enter upon and to divert and take water from the saidShoal Lake, subject to the terms, conditions, and stipulations set forth and containedin the minister's report.

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Certified.- J . LONSDALEAPREOL,C k k ,ExecutiveCouncil.To His Honour theLieuwant G O V ~ O Tn Council:The undersigned has the honor to report that the Greater Winnipeg Water District,comprising the following municipalities in the Province o Manitoba, that isto say:Winnipeg having a population of. - - - - - - -. - - . - - - -. - - - -. . - - - . -. . 191,067Transcona (' $ 6 l ( ........................................ 1,632Assiniboia (( (' ( L ('........................................ 6,000St. Vital (' (' ( 6 ( 1 ........................................ 1,817Kildonan " " ( I ' C ........................................ 2,075which said district isshewnonthe map hereto annexed, has represented that the onlyavailable sourceof water supply for domestic and municipal purposes for use in the saiddistrictis Shoal Lake in the district o Kenora, in the hovince o Ontario, and theeaid district has appplied for permission to take water from the said lake for thepurposes aforesaid.The undersigned respectfully recommends that there be granted to thesaid GreaterWinnipeg Water District the right to enter upon and to divert and take water fromShoal Lake, in the district o Kenora, inths Province, subjectto the following terma,conditions, and stipulations:1. Thatful compensation be madeto the Province o Ontarioand alsotoall privateparties whose lands or propertiesmay be taken, injuriously affected, or in any wayinterfered with, but water taken within the terms hereof and considered merely aswater is not property to be paid for.

2. That t he districtaha l l abide by and conform toany andal l rulee, regulations,orconditions regarding the ascertainment of the quantity of water being taken, and aat o t he iispection of worksand premiaee,and t hemannerof carrying out the proposedworks that thegovernmentof Ontario may at any time seefittomake or enact in thepremises.3. That t h e water ahall be used only for the purposesfor which municipalitiesandresidents therein ordinarily usewater,and not for the generation of hydraulic or electric

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St. Boniface " ( 6


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GREATER WINNIF'EG WATER DSTRI CT. 21power, and the quantity taken shall never, at any time, exceed one hundredmlliongallonsper day.4. That if it&odd hereafter appear that the takingof said water fromShoalLakeaecta the level of the Lake of theWods at thet own of Kenora, and thereby appre-ciably reduces the amount of power now developed and owned by thetownof Kenora,or in any way injuriouely affecta the propertyof theaaid town, the Greater WinnipegWater District shall construct such remedial works88 may be necessary toprevent orremove any such i nj uri ous effects, and in the caseof failureon the part of the aaiddistricttoconstruct such works, thenthesaid districtshallpay tothetownof Kenoraany damagesthesaid townshallsustai nby rewon o thetaking of the water88aforesaid.6. I n the evento a dispute between the town of Kenora and the Greater WinnipegWater District with reference to any of the mattemin the preceding paragraph men-ti oned, the same shall be finally settled and determined by arbitration under theOntar io ArbitrationAct.

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Toronto, October lst, 1913.The following essential facts were established in evidence:1. That it is necessary for the city of Winnipeg and surrounding

' municipalities constituting the Greater Winnipeg Water District toobtain from sOme source outside the limitsof such district a sufficientsupply of water for domestic and sanitary purposes.2. That after examination and researches by competent engineersit is manifest that the most feasible plan to obtain such supply ofwater is to construct an aqueduct from Shoal Lake as described inthe statutes, orders in council, and plans mentioned in and fled withthe application herein.3. That it is proposed eventually to draw from Shoal Lakefor thgGreater Winnipeg Water District a quantity of water amounting tofrom85,000,000 to 100,000,000gallonsper dem4. That Shoal Lake, which communicates with the Lake of theWoods by a series of passages, rapids, and lakes varying in widthand about 7 miles long, can not supply such a quantity of waterwithout drawing fromthewaters of the Lakeof theWoods,a boundarywater wthi n the meaning of the waterways treaty of the 11th of

January, 1909.5 . That the diversion eventually contemplatedwll amount to 158second-feet per day, or 260horsepower, of which the town of Kenoraand t s indtstries will be deprived, but that,onthe other hand, even ifthe townof Kenora installed and operateditswhole plant, there wouldstill be, as there always has been, water enough passing down theriver to operate all the undertakings at the foot of the Lake of theWoods, andthat the withdrawal of the said quantity of water would

6. That the authorization to withdraw the said quantity of waterfrom Shoal Lake and the Lake of the Woods is subject to certainspecified conditions contained in the statutes and orders in councilhereinabove recited under and pursuant to which the applicant

W. H Ebaas~.

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-have no appreciable effect upon the said undertakings.


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-. 22is seoking towould carryw

C'REATER WNNI PEG WATER DISTRIUT.act, and that t-he inobservance of such conditionsthit thelossand cancellationof the franchise, and thatthereby the public and private interests are fully protected.After hearing witnesses and counsel for the different partiesrepresented, and after careful copsideration, the commission unani-mously decided to grant the said application, subject to the condi-tions specified. And it is thereforeOrdered, That the use and diversion of the waters of ShoalLakeand of the Lake of the Woods for domestic and sanitary purposesby the inhabitants of the Greater Winnipeg Water District, prayedfor in the said application, be permitted, subject to the conditionscontained in the statutes and orders in council hereinabove recited:And provided further, That the water so to be diverted from ShoalLake and from the Lake of the Woods be not used for other thandomestic and sanitary purposes, that the present approval and per-mission shall inno way interfere with or prejudice the rights, if any,of any person, corporation, ormunicipality to damagesorcompensa-tioq for any injuries due in whole or in part to the diversion per-mitted and approved of, and that the quantity of water so takenand diverted shall never at any time exceed one hundred milliongallonsper day: And provided further, That the present permissionand order shall not be invoked or relied upon in any manner againstthe recommendations or report to be made by the commissionon thereference to it respecting the levels of the Lake of the Woods and shallin no way interfere with the action of the commissionin that regard.Dated at Washington the fourteenth day of January, one thousandnine hundred and fourteen.

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JAMESA. TAWNEY,"l'H. CHASE CASGRAIN,GEORGE URNER,.HENRY . POWELL,-OBADIAH ARDNER,CHARLZS A. MAQRATH.

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Docket 7 Order of Approval 1914-01-14

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Transcript of Docket 7 Order of Approval 1914-01-14