Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Waterloo region has confirmed a constraint in its water supply in the Mannheim Service Area using a revised methodology to calculate remaining water supply capacity for development.
The revised methodology is better suited to to a groundwater-based system, a Region of Waterloo release stated, “and more accurately reflects the actual capacity available in the Region’s water system today.”
“Through on-going work and updates to the Water Supply Strategy, Regional staff identified a water capacity constraint in the service area which supplies water to Kitchener, Waterloo, and parts of Cambridge, Woolwich, and Wilmot. A third-party peer review has verified the Region’s technical findings and change in methodology used to assess capacity for future developments in Waterloo Region,” the release said.
A combination of factors are impacting water capacity, the release added, including increasing frequency and duration of infrastructure shutdowns, a shift to increasing year over year water demand and a plateauing of conservation efforts.
New infrastructure will be required to support the approval of development applications or enter into any new service agreements that create additional demand on the Mannheim Service Area water system, the release said,
“We thank our area municipal partners and the development industry for their patience and collaboration during this time,” Region of Waterloo acting CAO Mathieu Goetzke said. “We understand there are unknown impacts on future development, we are working expeditiously towards short and long-term solutions to ensure a safe and sustainable water supply as we grow.”
The issue does not affect drinking water quality, the release said and there are no immediate impacts on residents.
Information on on water capacity is available at the Region of Waterloo website, as is the full report.
