Owen Sound, ON -The Saugeen, Grey Sauble, Northern Bruce Peninsula Source Protection Committee (SPC) has approved the 2022 Annual Progress Report to be submitted to the Province of Ontario. This progress report documents the achievements made together to implement local source protection plan policies that add protection to local municipal drinking water sources. You may view or download this report at home.waterprotection.ca/resources from the Resources Tab.

On November 7, 2022, we received Minister’s Approval on the Section 36 Source Protection Plan amendments in accordance with the Section 36 Order issued when the initial plan was approved. These Plan amendments addressed recently updated 2021 Technical Rule changes and were in line with previous consultations with municipalities, Risk Management Officials and other key stakeholder groups.

While the program has reached a major milestone whereby 100% of significant threat policies have been implemented, there is still a need to ensure that any outstanding municipal plan/by-law amendments or renewal of risk management plans are fully implemented as required under the plan.

Upon reviewing the Annual Report, the Source Protection Committee responded that we, “strongly advocate for continued provincial funding to protect current and future generations. Without the ongoing provision of financial resources, including annual cost of living increases, the significant progress achieved in the development and implementation of the source protection plan would be greatly diminished.” Their passion and commitment to keeping drinking water source protection a priority for residents is as strong now as when the committee was assembled in 2007.

“Drinking Water Source Protection in Ontario – The Clean Water Act, 2006 is part of the multi-barrier approach to ensure clean, safe and sustainable drinking water for Ontarians, by protecting sources of municipal drinking water such as lakes, rivers and well water. Under this legislation, the Drinking Water Source Protection Program was established by the Government of Ontario. This resulted in the development of science-based assessment reports and local source protection plans by multi-stakeholder source protection committees, supported by Source Protection Authorities.” Source: Conservation Ontario

Part IV of the Clean Water Act provides municipalities with the authority to regulate threat activities that may pose a significant risk to drinking water. It is intended to address the gaps where significant drinking water threats cannot be addressed by other existing planning tools or regulatory instruments.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Carl Kuhnke, Chair, mail@waterprotection.ca

Carl Seider, Project Manager, c.seider@waterprotection.ca or 519-470-3000 x201

Background:

Drinking Water Source Protection is a program governed by legislation and regulations of the Clean Water Act, 2006. The Source Protection Plan is a science-based document that was developed locally and written for this Source Protection Region. The Source Protection Plan was approved by the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change on October 16, 2015. Policies in the plan became effective on July 1, 2016.

The Saugeen, Grey Sauble, Northern Bruce Peninsula source protection region contains 38 municipal residential drinking water systems; 29 systems draw water from a groundwater source (an aquifer), 8 systems draw water from a surface water source, and 1 system combines groundwater and surface water.  Policies in the Source Protection Plan only apply in specific areas, for significant drinking water threat activities as per circumstances so that those activities do not become significant or impact local municipal sources of drinking water.

The purpose of the Clean Water Act, 2006 is to protect existing and future sources of drinking water from contamination or depletion. The policies in the Source Protection Plan manage activities that could be a risk to municipal drinking water sources. The Act relies on existing legislation, regulations and processes to manage risks. Where there is a conflict between pieces of legislation – the one that is more protective of drinking water applies.