Approved amendments to the source protection plan and assessment report for the Nottawasaga Valley Source Protection Area, which is part of the South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Source Protection Region

The Ontario government is committed to protecting our lakes, waterways and groundwater supply, now and for future generations. To ensure 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 Source Protection Plan” and the assessment report for the Nottawasaga Valley Source Protection Area. These amendments were recommended by the Nottawasaga Valley Source Protection Authority.

Working with our partners, 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 from contamination and depletion for future generations.

Amendments to the assessment report and source protection plan

These changes update the existing protection area around the Colgan drinking water system within Simcoe County to reflect increased water taking from three municipal drinking water wells in the community of Colgan.

This amendment does not change the vulnerability scores of the existing water quality protection areas, just their geographical boundaries. A new vulnerable area is also being added to protect the wells from potential contamination from interactions with surface water.

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

These amendments take effect upon this posting of the Minister’s approval on the Environmental Registry.

Other public consultation opportunities

The Nottawasaga Valley Source Protection Authority held consultations while the amendments were being developed. They invited comments from:

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

The source protection authority held public consultation on the proposed amendments from March 10, 2023, to April 19, 2023.

General Regulation 287/07 issued under the Clean Water Act, 2006 requires the source protection committee to send a notice to the chief of the band if any part of a First Nation reserve is in the area affected by the proposed plan amendments. As there are no First Nations reserves in the affected area, none were required to be notified under the regulation.

The source protection authority considered and addressed comments received and made appropriate revisions, where needed, before submitting the proposed amendments to the Ministry for approval. The Ministry also considered the comments received as part of the review process, including consulting with other provincial ministries.

The approved amendments to the source protection plan and assessment report for the Nottawasaga Valley Source Protection Area, part of the South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Source Protection Region, are available on the South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Region’s website.

Other information

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