Approved amendments to the South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Source Protection Plan

The Ontario government is committed to protecting our lakes, waterways and groundwater supply. To ensure that the quality of Ontario’s municipal drinking water sources continue to be protected in Simcoe County, the Minister has approved amendments to the South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Assessment Reports and Source Protection Plan. These amendments were recommended by the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, the lead source protection authority for the South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Source Protection Region.

These changes enhance protections for sources of drinking water by ensuring that water quality policies and protections are based on current science and modeling.

Our strong protection framework will continue to help ensure Ontario’s drinking water is held to high safety standards and that sources of drinking water in the province are protected for future generations.

Amendments to the assessment reports and source protection plan

New water quality protection areas have been added for the following three drinking water systems in Simcoe County:

1. Township of Oro-Medonte:
   • one new well for the Robincrest wellfield to replace a decommissioned well in late 2018
   • one well added to the assessment report for the Maplewood Estates wellfield
   • two wells added to the assessment report for the Braestone drinking water system which is an existing communal (non-municipal) system where the Township is assuming operational responsibility
2. Township of Clearview:
   • five wells added to the Stayner drinking water system with a new wellfield located on Klondike Road
3. Township of Springwater:
   • two new wells added to the Midhurst Valley wellfield, part of the Carson drinking water system

There were also slight changes to the existing water quality protection zones based on the inclusion of new wells which updated the groundwater modelling. All water quality protection zones can be viewed on the Source Protection Information Atlas.

The source protection authority completed the amendments in accordance with the legislative and regulatory requirements set out in the Clean Water Act, 2006 and Ontario Regulation 287/07 (General).

The amendments to Simcoe County, the Townships of Oro-Medonte, Clearview and Springwater take effect upon this posting of the Minister’s approval on the Environmental Registry.

Other public consultation opportunities

The Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority held consultations while the amendments were being developed. They invited comments from:

• the public
• implementing bodies affected by changes to the protection zones, including the provincial government and local municipalities
• the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

Public consultation on the proposed amendments were held with:

• Oro-Medonte Township from December 16, 2021 to January 28, 2022
• Clearview Township from January 22 to March 4, 2022
• Springwater Township from July 29 to September 2, 2022

The source protection authority received the following municipal council resolutions endorsing the amendment:

• Oro-Medonte Township (October 13, 2021)
• Clearview Township (November 8, 2021)
• Springwater Township (July 6, 2022)
• Simcoe County (November 9, 2021, January 11, 2022 and June 28, 2022)

The Clean Water Act, 2006 and General Regulation 287/07 require the source protection committee to send a notice to the chief of the band if any part of a First Nation reserve is located in the area affected by the proposed plan amendments. For this submission, there are no First Nations with reserves impacted by this amendment.

The source protection authority addressed comments and questions received during the public consultation process through direct responses to each stakeholder. The ministry also considered the comments received as part of the review process, including consulting with other ministries.

The approved amendments to the Severn Sound and Nottawasaga Valley Assessment Reports and South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Source Protection Plan are available through the link provided in the supporting materials section of this notice and on the South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Source Protection Region website.

Other information:

The Minister has concluded that the legislative and regulatory requirements under the Clean Water Act, 2006 have been met and the comments received during consultation on the assessment report and source protection plan amendments have been adequately considered and addressed.

Please see any related environmental registry notices in the section below.