Don’t shoot the messenger! Communicating the science and implementation of source protection

Angelika K. Masotti, Don Goodyear

In the proceedings of: GeoMontréal 2013: 66th Canadian Geotechnical Conference; 11th joint with IAH-CNC

Session: Groundwater Management II

ABSTRACT: The Clean Water Act, 2006 (CWA) established a science-based, locally driven process to assess and manage potential threats to municipal drinking water quality and quantity in Ontario. Technical Studies included wellhead protection area and intake protection zone delineation, vulnerability scoring and risk assessment. These studies culminated in Assessment Reports, which are the foundation for Source Protection Plans. Source Protection Plan policies are generally intended to manage existing risks on the landscape, and prevent new risks from being established using the science from Assessment Reports, and a suite of tools such as land use planning, Provincial Instruments, education, incentives, and some new powers afforded municipalities under the CWA. The development of Assessment Reports and Source Protection Plans was a collaborative effort involving the Province, local Source Protection Committees, Conservation Authorities, and municipalities. The bulk of implementation, however, rests at the municipal level. The Regional Municipality of York (the Region) has taken the lead on Source Water Protection locally, and is responsible for the production and treatment of drinking water from forty supply wells, and two intakes in Lake Simcoe. The Region has a long history of water resource management and related Official Plan policies that pre-date the CWA, in part due to legislative requirements of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act (2001), and the Provincial Policy Statement (2005). Two of the main challenges with preparing to implement Source Water Protection have been communicating the science behind the Assessment Reports to a lay audience, and engaging those individuals impacted by the legislation. To address these, the Region actively participated in public open houses held during the development of Assessment Reports and Source Protection Plans, conducted several workshops for local and regional municipal staff, and met individually with business owners. To date the Region has engaged over 345 businesses identified in the Assessment Reports as having potential significant threats to drinking water and consulted with over 80 local municipal staff representing the 9 local municipalities, initiating and building relationships that are crucial to source protection success. This talk will highlight the challenges and successes of these communications efforts, and summarize next steps for the Region.

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