Source Water Protection

Source Water Protection

Drinking water source protection safeguards public health by protecting the municipal drinking water supply from contaminants like sewage, fuel and chemicals. If water sources become contaminated, treatment can be much more expensive or even impossible.

Ontario’s Clean Water Act provides the legislative framework for Source Protection in Ontario. It ensures communities prevent contamination of their municipal drinking water supplies by developing collaborative, watershed-based source protection plans that are locally driven and based on science.

In Lanark County, the Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Plan applies and has been in effect since 2015. The Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Plan contains policies to protect our current and future drinking water supplies from threats of contamination or overuse.  Municipal drinking water can come from groundwater wells that draw water from underground aquifers, or surface water, which draws water from lakes and rivers. Source protection policies related to significant drinking water threats only apply in designated drinking water protection zones. These vulnerable areas are also known as Intake Protection Zones (IPZ) and Wellhead Protection Areas (WHPA).  Different policies apply to different parts of the IPZ or WHPA because certain areas are more vulnerable to contamination.

Do I live in a drinking water protection zone?

Use this interactive map to determine if your home or business is located in a drinking water protection zone. If you live in a drinking water protection zone, you’re encouraged to take easy steps to protect drinking water for yourself and your neighbours.

Depending on your property’s location and land uses, you may also be required to follow a prescribed risk management plan for your property or subject to additional protective restrictions. Learn more here: https://www.mrsourcewater.ca/en/risk-management-and-environmental-compliance/risk-management-plans

How were Drinking Water Protection Zones determined?

Drinking water protection zones have been determined through a series of technical studies completed by the Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Region {and the insert name of other Source Protection Area/Region}. These studies identified municipal drinking water sources, areas vulnerable to contamination and what the potential sources of contamination might be.  The results of those technical studies were used to direct source protection policy decisions and determine the areas where policies apply.

What are drinking water threats?

Under certain circumstances, the following can be significant threats to our drinking water, as prescribed under the Clean Water Act, 2006:

• Waste disposal sites
• Septic systems
• Sewage treatment plants and sewers
• Manure, bio-solids, and livestock
• Fuel and oil
• Commercial fertilizer and pesticides
• Road salt and snow storage
• Chemicals and organic solvents
• Aquaculture
• Oil or gas pipelines

How does the source protection plan address threats to drinking water?

The goal of the Source Protection Plan is to work with property owners to manage or eliminate activities that are or could become significant threats to drinking water sources. In most cases, property owners can reduce the risk and allow the activity to continue with mitigation in place. The Clean Water Act provides several tools to accomplish this, such as education and outreach, risk management plans and changes to municipal land use planning documents. Often a combination of tools works best.

Who is responsible for implementing and enforcing the Source Protection Plan?

Provincial Ministries, Conservation Authorities, and Municipalities all have different responsibilities for implementing Source Protection Plans. Municipalities have the primary responsibility to implement and enforce policies locally to manage drinking water threats and to implement planning and restricted land use policies.

Who can I contact for more information?

Marika Livingston, Project Manager

Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Region

Rideau Valley Conservation Authority Office

3889 Rideau Valley Drive

P.O. Box 599

Manotick, ON K4M 1A5

613-692-3571 x 1148

Toll Free: 1-800-267-3504

marika.livingston@mrsourcewater.ca