Source Water Protection Plan

Tuesday, 22 September 2015 at 12:53

Ontario has approved a source water protection plan designed to look after our drinking water for future generations.

Ontario has approved the Upper Thames Conservation Authorities source protection water plan.

The plan is designed to protect our drinking water in the Thames and Sydenham region and it was developed by local municipal, First Nation and community partners. Source Protection Project Manager with Upper Thames River Conservation Authority Chris Tasker tells Heart FM the plan outlines potential threats to our drinking water how to protect them.

"It identifies what those threats are, they are in a document referred to as an assessment report which is part of the plan, then it uses the tools that are provided in the clean water act some of those are existing tools that the Province or land use planning tools that the municipalities might have.

Tasker also talks about some of the potential threats to our drinking water as outlined in the Clean Water Act.

"Handling of storage of certain kind of chemicals, pesticides, the application of fertilizer or agriculture sourced material manure to land, waste management sewage treatment and storage, salt storage."

Bob Bedggood, Chair of the Thames-Sydenham and Region Source Protection Committee, said, "The committee agreed early on that the plan would be fair and equitable to all of the region’s residents and based on sound science. We are confident that this plan will protect municipal sources of drinking water for future generations. We would also like to recognize those that helped to shape our decision-making, namely our municipalities, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, and Conservation Ontario."

"The Thames-Sydenham and Region Source Protection Plan represents an enormous effort from all those involved," said John Van Dorp, Agricultural Sector Representative for the local Source Protection Committee. "The plan development began in 2007 with the recruitment of 25 very dedicated committee members from across the region who represented our local population and economy."

Committee member George Marr explained that, "Understanding our sources of municipal drinking water and how vulnerable those sources are to human activity is very important. For many significant threats, the committee chose to use a new tool, the Risk Management Plan, which allows a risk management official and the landowner to negotiate a risk reduction strategy."