The Clean Water Act, 2006

The Clean Water Act, 2006 (CWA) is the Ontario law under which source protection efforts are being undertaken in the province in the effort to help protect drinking water. At present, source protection activities in Ontario are focused on the protection of sources of treated drinking water. Source protection is being implemented on a local scale, by Source Protection Area (SPA) and Source Protection Region (SPR) – areas which correspond to the watersheds of Southern, Central and parts of Northern Ontario. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and the province’s Conservation Authorities are currently identifying potential threats to drinking water located in each SPA and SPR, as well as gauging the severity of identified potential threats. Geographic information systems are being used to store and map data on water quality, water quantity, and threats to source water. These data will be used to help identify, address and mitigate potential threats to drinking water. Nineteen Source Protection Committees (SPCs), comprising stakeholders representing municipal, business, industrial, agricultural, environmental and broader community interests, are ensuring the source protection planning process is sufficiently tailored to the unique geology and human and natural geographies of each of the province’s SPAs and SPRs.

By the autumn of 2009, all SPCs’ Terms of Reference, the “workplans” that outline what actions are to be taken in each SPA, have been approved by the MOE. SPCs are now preparing Assessment Reports. In these documents, potential threats to drinking water will be identified and the risks they present to drinking water gauged.

Once these potential threats to drinking water have been identified, the SPCs will develop their Source Protection Plans. These Plans will outline the ways certain drinking water threats will be addressed and mitigated. These Plans are expected to be ready for implementation from the beginning of 2012.