Approved amendments to the Mississippi-Rideau 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 Municipality of North Grenville and the Village of Merrickville-Wolford, the Minister has approved amendments to the Rideau Valley Assessment Report and Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Plan. These amendments were recommended by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, the lead source protection authority for the Mississippi-Rideau 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.

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 for future generations.

Amendments to the assessment report and source protection plan

The amendments include revised water quality protection areas around existing wellfields in the Municipality of North Grenville and Village of Merrickville to incorporate a new well and associated source protection plan mapping.

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 upon this posting of the Minister’s approval on the Environmental Registry.

Other public consultation opportunities

The Rideau Valley 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
• Indigenous communities
• the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

The source protection authority held public consultation on the proposed amendments from July 7 to August 13, 2021.

The Clean Water Act, 2006 General Regulation 287/07 requires 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. There are no First Nations communities located in the Rideau Valley Source Protection Area.

The source protection authority also engaged with the Algonquins of Ontario on the proposed amendment.

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

The approved amendments to the Rideau Valley Assessment Report and Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Plan are available:

• via the link provided in this notice and in the supporting materials section of this notice
• on the Mississippi-Rideau 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 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, as appropriate.