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Media Backgrounder

April 21, 2003

PROTECTING ONTARIO’S DRINKING WATER: TOWARD A WATERSHED-BASED SOURCE PROTECTION PLANNING FRAMEWORK
Final Report of the Advisory Committee on Watershed-Based Source Protection Planning

The Advisory Committee was asked to provide advice to the government on a provincial framework for watershed-based source protection planning consistent with the recommendations related to source protection in Commissioner Dennis O’Connor’s Part Two Report of the Walkerton Inquiry. The committee’s mandate was to set out the minimum requirements to be included in a source protection plan and the process through which plans should be developed.

The 55 recommendations in the report - Protecting Ontario’s Drinking Water: Toward a Watershed-based Source Protection Planning Framework - set out a comprehensive framework that addresses roles and responsibilities, the planning process, resources, timing and legislation. While focused primarily on the process for developing source protection plans, the report also makes high-level recommendations regarding next steps and source protection plan implementation. Specifically, the Advisory Committee report calls on the province to:

• engage in further consultation on implementing source protection planning, including how to pay for it;
• establish a technical expert committee to develop an Ontario-based process to identify and manage threats to drinking water sources; and
• introduce new watershed-based source protection legislation.

The Advisory Committee emphasizes the complexity of source protection planning and the need for additional consultation before legislation is introduced.

The government is committed to introducing legislation on source protection planning this fall, and will consult with key stakeholders and experts to develop technical and implementation details related to source protection planning.

In keeping with the Committee’s recommendation for broad public consultation, the report has been posted to the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry (www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/env_reg/ebr/index.htm.) and is available on the Ministry of the Environment’s Web site at www.ene.gov.on.ca. Written comments can be submitted until June 21, 2003.

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Minister’s Office
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