Approval of the amended assessment report for the Hamilton source protection area and amended source protection plan for the Halton and Hamilton source protection areas

The purpose of the Clean Water Act, 2006 is to protect existing and future sources of drinking water to help protect human health and the environment, and to ensure safe, clean drinking water for all Ontarians.

The Act ensures communities are able to protect their drinking water sources through prevention - by developing collaborative, locally driven, watershed based drinking water source protection plans founded on science. Protecting local drinking water sources is an important first step in ensuring Ontario’s communities are confident in the quality and quantity of their drinking water.

Amendments to the assessment report and source protection plan were carried out to further protect sources of drinking water in the Hamilton and Halton source protection areas. The amendments include the identification of new and updated wellhead protection areas as a result of a new well in the Greensville drinking water system within the City of Hamilton. There are no changes to existing policies within the source protection plan; therefore, all policies will apply to the updated wellhead protection areas for the Greensville system.

The amendments have been completed in accordance with the legislative and regulatory requirements set out in the Clean Water Act and Ontario Regulation 287/07 (General) and have been approved. The effective date of the amendments is upon posting on the Environmental Registry.

Other public consultation opportunities

During preparation of the amendments to the assessment report and source protection plan, the Halton source protection authority carried out public and stakeholder consultation on behalf of the Hamilton source protection authority.

While developing the amendments, the Halton source protection authority invited comments on the draft amendments from the public and implementing bodies affected by the changes to the protection zones, including the provincial government and local municipalities. In addition, the source protection authority held public consultation on the changes included in the proposed amendments from October to December 2017.

Comments received on the proposed amendments were taken into consideration by the source protection authority and revisions were made where appropriate. The comments received on the proposed amendments were submitted to the Ministry and taken into consideration as part of the review process.

The approved amendments to the assessment report and source protection plan can be viewed at the link provided in this notice and on the Halton-Hamilton source protection region website.

No changes have been made to the future review cycle of the source protection plan for the Halton and Hamilton source protection areas. This review cycle was established when the initial plan was approved in August 2015 and is described in the EBR notice posted with that decision (available at the link provided in this notice).

Other information

The Minister has concluded that the legislative requirements under the Clean Water Act have been met and that comments the source protection authority received during consultation on the assessment report and source protection plan amendments have been adequately considered and addressed.