Mapleton council received an update on implementation of local Source Water Protection measures from Wellington County risk management official Kyle Davis at the March 25 meeting.
Davis, who works out of Centre Wellington, has been engaged to act as risk management official (RMO) for all seven lower tier municipalities, with the position funded through the county. Appointment of an RMO was a requirement under the provincial Clean Water Act, which came into force in 2013.
Source protection plans are required in each watershed, with five such plans applying to Wellington County, Davis explained in his report.
The plans have not yet been approved by the Ontario Minister of the Environment (MOE). The Grand River plan is under review and final approval is not expected until mid- to late-2015.
The Ausable Bayfield-Maitland plan is expected to receive final approval before the end of 2014.
Davis noted verification of an initial list of potential threats to source water supplies is currently underway. Threat verification efforts for Mapleton will involve a combination of desktop analysis, field verification, letters and door-to-door outreach to owners and tenants.
While approximately 80 initial threats have been identified to both the Drayton and Moorefield well supplies, Davis said the verification process is expected to greatly reduce that number. In the Town of Minto, he noted, an initial figure of about 300 identified threats was reduced to 30 by the verification process.
“Were any of these considerations in place when these wells were put where they are?” wondered councillor Neil Driscoll.
“No. Source protection is fairly new. It wasn’t until Walkerton that it was put into place,” said Davis, in reference to the Walkerton water crisis that resulted in seven deaths and thousands made ill from drinking E.coli-contaminated water in May of 2000.
The MOE has provided funding through the Source Protection Implementation Fund (SPIF), Davis explained.
Mapleton is eligible for a $49,739 base grant plus $15,000 in a collaboration incentive for four or more municipalities working together, for a total grant of $64,739.
In total, the municipalities within Wellington County are eligible for $483,173 in base grants and a total of $603,173 including the collaboration incentives.
Davis said the SPIF grant applications were completed and returned to MOE in December.
While the MOE currently requires the funds to be spent by Dec. 7, 2015, Davis said some municipalities feel more time is needed and a request to extend the funding window by a year has been submitted.
Because most local municipalities “are not in a position to identify the projects,” Davis said the funding window extension would be helpful locally.
Asked about timelines for having risk management inspectors in place, another requirement under the legislation, Davis said, “We have to wait until we finish the threat verification before we go ahead with that. With the exception of Minto none of the municipalities have completed the process.”
Davis noted that in Minto it was determined the inspector will be an employee of the building department, while other municipalities might put the position in a different department, such as the water department.
Council received the report as information.
