A 40-day public consultation period is underway on amendments to a plan to protect the sources of municipal drinking water in the Grand River watershed.
The consultation period runs to April 24 and includes a series of public meetings and opportunities for people to submit written comments.
The proposed drinking water aource protection plan outlines the policies and programs needed to protect municipal water system from contamination. It was developed under the Clean Water Act and was submitted in January 2013 to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change for approval.
Since then some amendments have been proposed.
Parts of the Plan have been revised to ensure it meets the requirements of the Clean Water Act and regulations.
Two new water sources have been added: a well in Melanchthon Township serving Shelburne and a backup intake in the Grand River at Dunnville.
New scientific studies have resulted in changes to the plan for water systems for Elora, Brant, Waterloo Region and Guelph (affecting properties in Puslinch).
The amended version of the plan will be resubmitted to the MOECC; it is expected to be approved later this year.
Copies of the plan and information about the public meetings and how to comment can be found at www.sourcewater.ca. Copies of the plan are also available at municipal offices throughout the watershed.
Public meetings will be held between March 31 and April 16 in Amaranth, Fergus, Guelph, Waterloo, Cambridge, Brantford, Paris and Dunnville
The Source Protection Plan outlines policies and programs to protect the sources of municipal drinking water serving more than 650,000 people in the Grand River watershed. They are served by more than 45 drinking water systems that draw water from about 190 wells, five river intakes and one Lake Erie intake.
The plan uses a variety of tools to protect water sources such as municipal zoning bylaws, negotiated risk management plans, incentive programs and educational programs.
The work of developing the source protection plan was led by the Lake Erie Region Source Protection Committee. It is a multi-stakeholder committee with representatives from throughout the Lake Erie Source Protection Region, which includes the Grand River, Kettle Creek, Catfish Creek and Long Point Region watersheds. The Grand River Conservation Authority provided technical and other support to the committee. The committee worked closely with municipal officials to develop the plans and policies that are included in the plan.
Owners of land where significant threats to water sources have been identified will also be notified of their opportunity to comment on the plan.
