Review unearths unsustainable water capacity; region’s growth put on hold
Posted Jan 14, 2026 07:50:28 AM.
Last Updated Jan 14, 2026 09:28:52 AM.
For now, the growth of Waterloo Region is put on hold as regional staff look for answers to the recently identified water capacity issues.
Regional headquarters hosted a more-than-eight-hour discussion on water capacity on Tuesday, with plenty of questions asked by councillors and concerns raised by delegates in attendance.
The water capacity problems within the Region of Waterloo are complicated and ever-developing, but the issue was first detected in November 2025 and relayed to the public through the media the next month. It affects the Mannheim Service Area, and the region notes that they may not have enough water to support the growing populations in Kitchener, Uptown Waterloo, and areas of Cambridge, Woolwich, and Wilmot.
Information that was shared at the meeting included the results of a third-party review of the issue by Agile Infrastructures Ltd., a Cambridge-based firm.
In order to respond to emergencies and to provide some flexibility, the region looks to maintain a 20 per cent operational resiliency buffer, meaning ideally it would be using 80 per cent of its total capacity.
According to the third-party review, the region is currently operating at unsustainable levels at all times and has exceeded sustainable capacities since 2023.
“When accounting for 100 per cent of total available operational capacity, and accounting for facilities offline for planned and unplanned maintenance, measured average daily demands within the Mannheim Service Area have exceeded sustainable supply capacity of online sources in 2023, 2024, and are projected to exceed sustainable supply capacity of online sources in 2025,” reads the report from Agile Infrastructure Ltd.
When it comes to developments, the region will not be supporting development applications or entering into any new servicing agreements until it has found a clear path forward and created solutions to its water capacity issues.
Regional staff noted that they are treating already-approved plans and applications as existing connections to the water system, which could change given how close to the limit the regional water systems are currently operating.
“We’re using 16 per cent of that operational resiliency buffer because of a number of wells that are offline or parts of our capacity that we’re not able to mobilize today,” said Mathieu Goetzke, acting CAO for the Region of Waterloo. “So that means we only have 4 per cent buffer left. If a piece of infrastructure that makes up more than 4 per cent of our water supply goes down, we’re not able to supply the water to these existing or issued building permits.”
“It’s not exactly fine because we do not have that operational resiliency buffer,” added Goetzke.
In the short term, the region will look to repair and maintain the current systems while also looking for areas where it can expand infrastructure.
In terms of cost, regional staff estimated that hiring external resources in order to find solutions to these issues is the only cost they can estimate at this time, noting that it could cost approximately $1.3 million this year.
Those costs are set to be covered through money collected by water rates; all other costs associated with the water capacity issues are set to be tracked as a variance to the annual budget.
The report from regional staff added that they’re looking to improve the affordability of services by emphasizing savings and optimizing the existing water infrastructure.
A number of motions were brought forward by committee, many of them looking to gain more information on the issue and to share it with the area municipalities.
Prior to the meeting, regional councillors also received legal advice related to potential litigation related to the water capacity issues in the Mannheim Service Area.
More information on the water capacity issues can be found on the region’s website.
