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The Clean Water Act was given Royal
Assent on Oct. 19, 2006. The act came into force and a
series of regulations to implement the law were issued
on July 3, 2007.
The intent of the Clean Water Act is to protect existing
and future sources of drinking water, as part of the
government’s overall commitment to protecting and
enhancing human health and the environment. Source
protection represents the first barrier in the
multi-barrier approach to providing a safe supply of
water.
One of the most important parts of the CWA is that it
requires source protection committees to develop
science-based assessment reports and source protection
plans at the local level. The source protection plans
will consist of a range of policies that, together, will
reduce the risks posed by water quality and quantity
threats.
The Act is part of the Ontario government's commitment
to implement all of the recommendations of the Walkerton
Inquiry. The legislation directly addresses 12 and
supports the implementation of 22 recommendations of the
Walkerton Inquiry on protecting drinking water at its
source.
For the first time, communities will be required to
create and carry out a plan to protect the sources of
their municipal drinking water supplies. The Clean Water
Act will:
- Require local communities to look at the
existing and potential threats to their
water and set out and implement the actions
necessary to reduce or eliminate significant
threats.
- Empower communities to take action to
prevent threats from becoming significant.
- Require public participation on every
local source protection plan. This means
everyone in the community gets a chance to
contribute to the planning process.
- Require that all plans and actions are
based on sound science.
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This legislation is designed to promote voluntary
initiatives but does require mandatory action where
needed. The legislation sets out a basic framework for
communities to follow in developing an approach to
protecting their municipal water supplies that works for
them:
- Identify and assess risks to the quality
and quantity of municipal drinking water
sources and decide which risks are
significant and need immediate action, which
need monitoring to ensure they do not become
significant, or which pose a low or
negligible risk.
- Develop a source protection plan that
sets out how the risks will be addressed.
Broad consultation will involve
municipalities, conservation authorities,
property owners, farmers, industry,
businesses, community groups, public health
officials, First Nations and the public in
coming up with workable, effective
solutions.
- Carry out the plan through existing land
use planning and regulatory requirements or
approvals, or voluntary initiatives.
Activities that pose a significant risk to
drinking water sources may be prohibited or
may require a site specific risk management
plan. This plan will set out the measures
that a property owner will take to ensure
the activity is no longer a threat.
- Stay vigilant through ongoing monitoring
and reporting to measure the effectiveness
of the actions taken to protect drinking
water sources and ensure they are protected
in the future.
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The act creates a drinking water support program to help
farmers and small rural businesses take action to reduce
threats to local drinking water sources. The Ontario
Drinking Water Advisory Panel has provided advice on how
the stewardship program should be administered and
allocated. In 2007-08, $7 million was made available for
early action to protect drinking water sources and to
support local education and outreach projects.
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