Approved amendments to the Grand River Source Protection Plan

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 Grand River Source Protection Area, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks has approved amendments to the Grand River Source Protection Plan and Assessment Report, as recommended by the Grand River 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 Grand River Source Protection Authority prepared these amendments to help further protect sources of drinking water.

Protection areas were updated based on new groundwater models that better identify the areas where activities could pose a low, moderate or significant risk to sources of drinking water. The amendments include:

• revised water quality protection areas around existing wells in Wellington County for the Fergus and Elora drinking water systems (Township of Centre Wellington) and Rockwood and Hamilton Drive drinking water systems (Township of Guelph-Eramosa)
• addition of new protection zones in Wellington County where activities on the land are contributing to elevated chloride and tricholoethylene (TCE) levels
• the completion of technical work to assess water quantity stress levels for the County of Brant’s Bethel Road wellfield (part of the Whiteman’s Creek Tier 3 water budget) which considered impacts from overuse, drought and reduced recharge
• a new water quantity protection area was developed for the Bethel Road wellfield
• updated source protection plan mapping

New water quality policies were developed to address activities that contribute to chloride issues in Wellington County, such as for the application, handling and storage of salt, storage of snow, and some sewage activities.

New water quantity policies were developed for the County of Brant’s Bethel Road wellfield that rely on a number of policy approaches including provincial approvals (e.g. Permit-to-Take-Water), municipal land use planning, and education and outreach.

Administrative amendments and minor revisions were made to some existing policies including implementation timing, restricted land uses, condition sites, sewage works, agricultural activities, storage of salt and snow, fuel and hydrocarbon pipelines for the following areas within the Grand River source protection area:

• County of Brant
• County of Grey (Township of Southgate)
• Dufferin County (Townships of Amaranth, East Garafraxa, Grand Valley and Melancthon)
• Wellington County (Townships of Guelph-Eramosa, Erin and Puslinch)
• City of Guelph
• Halton Region
• Region of Waterloo
• Perth County
• County of Oxford
• Wellington County
• City of Hamilton

Sections of the assessment report and source protection plan were revised to include new information, improve clarity and accuracy of information:

• water quality methodology
• water budget and risk assessment sections
• Dufferin County livestock density mapping for Grand Valley
• executive summary, references, tables and figures

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).

These amendments take effect immediately, the day this decision notice is posted to the Environmental Registry.

Other public consultation opportunities

The Grand River 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 from January 6 to February 19, 2020. Additionally, three public meetings held to discuss these amendments in Brant County (February 5, 2020), Wellington Country - Elora (February 6, 2020) and Wellington County - Guelph (February 12, 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 in accordance of section 30 of the Clean Water Act, 2006.

The approved amendments to the Grand River Source Protection Plan and Assessment Report are available via the link provided in this notice and on the Lake Erie 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.