Planning to protect water New Ontario legislation would create local watershed protection committees. Dateline: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 by Ole Hendrickson The Ontario government has introduced legislation to protect sources of drinking water. While lawyers argue over the details of enforcement provisions and so forth, let's take a step back and think about water and watersheds. Consider a dictionary definition of water: "the liquid that descends from the clouds as rain, forms streams, lakes and seas, issues from the ground in springs, is a major constituent of all living matter, and when pure consists of an oxide of hydrogen, H2O." Now consider the definition of watershed: "a region draining ultimately to a particular watercourse or body of water; the drainage basin from which the waters of a river are drawn."
Keeping our water supplies safe is a common responsibility. The proposed new Clean Water Act would create committees to carry out watershed-based assessment and planning. Each committee would set out a watershed budget, taking into account the different ways water enters and leaves the watershed, ground water and surface water flows, and existing and anticipated amounts of water taken from the watershed. The committee would also identify ground water recharge areas, vulnerable aquifers, surface water intake protection zones and wellhead protection areas. It would identify human activities that pose threats to these areas. Finally, the committee would prepare a plan to ensure that each of these activities "ceases to be a significant drinking water threat." Keeping our water supplies safe is a common responsibility. Water cannot be contained within political boundaries or property lines. During this unusually wet spring in the Ottawa Valley, rains have soaked the soil, recharging wells and groundwater aquifers. Rivers are swollen with water seeping from their banks and beds. Streams flow from much further upslope than normal. Water is in motion everywhere. This serves to remind us that any activity, anywhere on the landscape, affects drinking water. Stewardship of the watershed is not just a matter for the farmer spreading manure, or the waterfront property owner. Our tubs, sinks, driveways and toilets are all "surface water intake protection zones". Even our bodies — being mostly water — are as much a part of the watershed as the river itself. However, the proposed Clean Water Act would recognize certain areas and activities as especially significant from a water protection standpoint. Activities in lake shores, riversides, wetlands, recharge zones or areas adjacent to municipal wells pose particular threats — especially if they involve pollutant or sediment discharges, land disturbance, or construction of buildings and roads. Perhaps we can imagine a world in which each of us is fully responsible for our own and our neighbours' well-being. This is not the world in which we live. Our world is a busy place. Plans are hatched, deals are struck, money and land change hands. Ecologists urge governments to apply an "ecosystem approach": integrated management of land, water and living resources. This sounds like simple, common sense advice. But consider that transportation, municipal planning, agriculture and forestry all affect water. Each has its own government ministry. We generally welcome it when governments plan for economic development. Responsible economic development requires that we take care of our environment. Communities that lack safe water cannot prosper. As landscapes become busier places, planning becomes more important. Should we ensure a supply of gravel for road construction and maintenance, or a supply of clean water? Under current Ontario law, gravel comes first. The Clean Water Act would put water first. The proposed approach is to create a watershed-level committee, composed of local stakeholders, representing a range of interests, with resources to do a credible assessment of the watershed and a mandate to develop a plan to ensure that water sources are protected. It might not be perfect, but it's a step in the right direction. Dr Ole Hendrickson is an ecologist and a founding member of the Ottawa River Institute, a non-profit, charitable organization based in Pembroke ON Canada. The ORI is aimed at fostering sustainable communities and ecological integrity in the Ottawa Valley and Ottawa River Watershed. For more information please visit the ORI website.
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