Approval to further protect sources of drinking water in the Trent Conservation Coalition Source Protection Region

The Ontario government is committed to protecting our lakes, waterways and groundwater supply, now and for future generations. To ensure that the quality of Ontario’s municipal drinking water sources continue to be protected in the Trent Conservation Coalition Source Protection Region, we have approved amendments to the Trent Source Protection Plan and Assessment Report, as recommended by the Lower Trent Source Protection Authority.

Protecting Ontario’s water resources is a key commitment in our Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan.

Amendments to the assessment report and source protection plan

The Lower Trent Source Protection Authority prepared these amendments to help further protect sources of drinking water.

The amendments include:

• an expanded and revised water quality protection area around the new and existing wells of the Stirling drinking water system in the Township of Stirling-Rawdon and the City of Quinte West, and the City of Kawartha Lakes
• updated source protection plan mapping

In the source protection plan, no changes to the policies were made, which means the existing policies will apply to the updated protection area.

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 take effect upon posting on the Environmental Registry.

Other public consultation opportunities

The Lower Trent Source Protection 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

The source protection authority also held public consultation on the proposed amendments to the Stirling drinking water system from November 7 to December 11, 2019 and for the Pinewood drinking water system from December 9, 2019, to January 30, 2020.

The source protection authority considered comments and made appropriate revisions before submitting the proposed amendments to the ministry. We considered comments received during consultation as part of the review process.

The approved amendments to the Trent Source Protection Plan and Assessment Report are available via the link provided in this notice and on the Trent Conservation Coalition Source Protection Region website.

Other information:

The minister has concluded that the legislative 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.