Wellington County has named Dale Murray of Triton Engineering as its representative on the Lake Erie source water protection committee.
The provincial government has begun the process of naming source water protection agencies, and those are determined from area watersheds. Wellington County is a large municipal entity and its six conservation authorities are involved in five source water protection areas.
There is a good reason for the province to protect source water, and the program is the result of the fallout from the Walkerton water disaster several years ago, where four died and hundreds got sick drinking tainted water.
Municipal drinking water comes from lakes, rivers, streams, or underground aquifers. All those sources of water are linked in a watershed through the water cycle. Drinking water source protection is about protecting the quality and the quantity of municipal drinking water sources.
Almost three-quarters of the people who live in Ontario, rely on water that is drawn from surface sources such as the Great Lakes and the Ottawa River. The remainder of Ontario’s population relies on groundwater.
The Clean Water Act introduced a new level of protection for drinking water resources that focuses on protecting water before it enters the water treatment system. The act establishes a means to protect municipal residential drinking water sources and designated private drinking water sources.
Almost one-third of municipalities in Ontario with water supply systems, reported shortages over the past 10 years. Some municipalities are predicting serious shortages in the next decade.
The Clean Water Act was proclaimed on July 3, 2007 and the first set of regulations was promulgated. The act and its regulations provide for drinking water source protection planning and the creation of a source protection plans.
The idea is government can protect the quality and quantity of our municipal drinking water sources by managing the influences on them. That involves identifying threats to municipal drinking water sources, assessing the significance of each threat, taking action to reduce or eliminate the threat, and monitoring progress. Conditions or activities that pose risks to municipal drinking water sources will undergo a technical assessment and be ranked based on their level of threat. Those that are assessed and ranked as "signficant threats" will require action to mitigate the threat as outlined in the source protection plan. Moderate or low threats may be addressed through monitoring or voluntary measures.
Each drinking water source protection plan will develop understanding of water quantity, quality, processes, threats and possible solutions for the watersheds.
Each source protection area represents a watershed.
The best way to protect sources of water is on a watershed basis because water flows across traditional boundaries, such as towns and cities. Conservation authorities are the only watershed management agencies in Ontario that are organized on a watershed basis and are recognized for their watershed management knowledge, and connections to local communities. Conservation authorities are key players in the coordination of the multi-year drinking water source protection planning process involving municipalities, community organizations, industries and residents.
But, when it comes to municipal representation, there is a problem because there are too many representatives needed.
County council on Oct. 25 approved a planning committee recommendation the county supports the efforts of the groups to establish equitable municipal representation on the various steering committees.
The county report noted that in all cases, there are two or more conservation authorities involved with each of the source water protection committees that involved Wellington and its municipalities.
The report also noted that there are too many municipalities and two few representatives. Each committee is made up of:
– one-third municipal representatives;-
one third sector representatives such as agriculture commercial, and industrial; and
– one third of other representatives, including public interest groups and the public at large.
The following are the source water protection areas, and the municipalities involved in each:
– Ausauble, Bayfield, Maitland, 15 members, 6 municipal representatives, and municipaities of North Perth, Mapleton, Minto, Perth East, Howick and Wellington North;
– CTC (Credit and Toronto), 21 committee members, 7 municipal representatives, Region of Halton in consultation with Town of Halton Hills, Oakville, Wellington County, and Erin;
– Lake Erie (Grand River Conservation Authority) 21 committee membes, seven municipal representatives, Grey County, Southgate Township, Dufferin County, Township Melancthon, Armaranth, East Luther-Grand Valley, East Garafraxa, Wellington County, Wellington North, Mapleton, Centre Wellington, Guelp;h-Eramosa, Puslinch, Erin, Halton Region, Milton, and Town of Halton Hills;
-Halton-Hamilton, 15 committee members, five municipal representatives, County of Wellington, and Puslinch Township; and
Saugeen, Grey Sauble, Northern Bruce Penninsula, 15 members, 5 municipal representatives, for Hanover, Sluthgate, West Grey, Chatsworth, Minot, and Wellington North.
When Murray’s appointment was considered, councillor Lou Maieron asked if he is going to represent the municipality or the public.
Councillor Rod Finnie said those appointed by councils are municipal representatives “even if they are not councillors.”
Councillor Joanne Ross-Zuj said that is correct, and noted that Centre Wellington Township has appointed Murray as its municipal representative.
Puslinch, Erin, Mapleton, and Guelph-Eramosa have also approved the appointment of Murray as their representative.
