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Walkerton 10 Years After |
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Protecting Water on a Watershed Basis Lessons Learned from the
Walkerton tragedy: 1. Humans are part of the environment All too often we think that our environment has little or no
impact on us. However environmental management is also about human health and
safety. We are dependent daily on the environment around us and that we need
to pay attention to it. 2. Reliable Science is needed to protect our environment. It will be ten years from the release of the Walkerton
Inquiry Report to the completion of source protection plans. Basically it
takes this long because it is a comprehensive, science based,
multi-stakeholder approach with mandatory requirements for implementation.
Getting the science right and ensuring good stakeholder and public
consultation are important, but they take time. 3.
Source Protection is one piece of the puzzle
to ensure the protection of Proper management of our environment needs an approach that
simultaneously considers the interests of business, society and the
environment altogether. This is called Integrated Watershed Management. What
we do on the land impacts the quality and sustainability of our natural
resources – particularly water - so we can’t ignore these influences when we
are making decisions about the environment. To learn more, read Conservation Ontario’s article, Protecting Municipal
Drinking Water Sources – 10 years after Walkerton by Charley Worte.
[Municipal World March 2010) |
What Happened? May 2010 marks the 10th
anniversary of the Walkerton drinking water tragedy. After a few days of very heavy rainfall in
mid-May, 2000, the water supply for the town of On May 15th, many residents began to
simultaneously experience bloody diarrhea, gastrointestinal infections and
other symptoms of E. coli infection. Seven people
died from drinking contaminated water and over 2,000 became ill. The effects
are still felt today by a number of Walkerton residents. Many events
are being organized to commemorate the Anniversary: May 19
Walkerton MTO Yard - Rain Barrel Sales to
support Walkerton to Haiti Clean Water Project May 16 Ecumenical Service June 1 Youth Water Career Day (Keynote speaker: Ryan Hreljac, founder
of the Ryan's Well Foundation) June 12 Walkerton Clean Water Centre Official Public Opening June 12 Public Water Day in Walkerton Assessing
Threats to Since May
2000, Working with
local Source Protection committees and other partners, Conservation
Authorities have made significant progress in developing ‘environmental
snapshots’ of our watersheds and through watershed assessment reports, we are
working towards identifying specific threats to our drinking water sources
and what can be done to reduce or eliminate those threats. Assessment Reports will provide Source Protection Committees with information
that will help determine how best to protect the quality and supply of their
local water resources. They will be the basis for developing Source
Protection Plans and making local policy decisions for protecting drinking water. Assessment Reports are a key requirement of the
Clean Water Act and include information such as the physical characteristics
of the land, land uses, where drinking water supplies are located, how much
water is being used and how much is available for future uses, where
vulnerable water supply areas are located, what issues already compromise
drinking water sources and what threatens drinking water sources from overuse
and contamination. The assessment reports will provide the
foundation for local source protection plans which are expected to be ready
to implement in 2012. Find Your Local Draft or Proposed Assessment Report What is the Technical Work Being Done Around Source
Protection
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What is a Watershed?
The area of land that drains water in a given region is
known as a watershed. A watershed can be thought of as bathroom sink. Any
rain or snow that falls within the sink-bowl runs down the sides of the sink
and into the drain, which can also be thought of as a water supply intake
such as a well or surface water intake pipe.
Watersheds are based on natural boundaries, created by
natural features of the land. They do not follow municipal, provincial or
even national borders.
Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities are local, non
governmental agencies who are organized on a watershed basis and deliver a
variety of natural resource programs and services in partnership with
landowners, agencies and communities.
This newsletter was produced by Conservation Ontario, the
umbrella organization that represents
Phone:
(905)
895-0716
We’re
on the Web!
Building the Science
Our drinking
water comes from lakes, rivers, streams or underground sources (aquifers)
located across the province. All of these sources of water are linked in a
watershed through the water cycle. Drinking water sources can be easily contaminated and
have a limited tolerance for stress. Long terms problems can develop that are
costly or even impossible to correct.
In order to make sure we have enough clean water for
drinking and other uses, we need to protect sources by managing the
influences on them. The best way to protect sources of water is on a watershed basis
because water flows across traditional boundaries
such as towns and cities. Conservation Authorities are the only natural
resource management agencies in
In order to
support the development of plans to protect our sources of drinking water, a
great deal of science needs to be done. We need to collect and analyze water
and land-related data; develop and use computer models to predict future
changes to our environment; and develop or update watershed mapping.
Water Budgets are another critical component of the Assessment Report. A
Water Budget looks at how much water enters a watershed, how much water is
stored and how much water leaves. This information helps determine how much
water is available for human uses, while ensuring there is still enough left
for natural processes (e.g. there has to be enough water in a watershed to
maintain streams, rivers and lakes and to support aquatic life). A Water
Budget is similar to your household budget. How much money do you make? How
much have you saved? How much can you afford to spend? Water budgets help us
to make sure we have enough water for all our needs today and into the
future.
The Clean Water Act
The
Source Protection Planning initiative is as a result of the Clean Water Act, part of the
As a result of the Clean Water Act, communities in
•
Find your Source Protection
Region or Area.
• Frequently Asked questions on Source Water Protection
(French)
• For More Information on
the Clean Water Act in English (French)