Considerations For Source Water Protection In Ontario

Source water protection under the Ontario Clean Water Act (2006) emerged after the fatal E. coli outbreak in Walkerton, Ontario in 2000. It is the protection of raw drinking water at its source, and it is carried out at a local watershed and municipal level primarily through land use planning tools and stewardship in Ontario. The scope of source water protection is limited to anthropocentric considerations, and therefore it misses the opportunity to protect watersheds for the sake of ecosystem integrity and to conserve the many critical ecosystem services provided by watersheds. There are numerous threats to watersheds and other considerations that are not currently addressed by the regulation that undermine effective source water protection, such as groundwater quantity, urban growth, and existing contaminated lands. In addition, a jurisdictional gap has led to a water crisis in many First Nations communities, for whom contaminated source water is a primary concern. However, source water protection in First Nations communities is made difficult by external and internal threats, and as a tool, it is neither holistic nor aligned with traditional water management practices. Management of watersheds and water sources requires complex solutions and strong governance and institutions. Global freshwater resources are under unprecedented strain, and the lessons from Ontario can be emulated and expanded upon to achieve sustainability and ecosystem integrity