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A local source protection authority has extended the deadline for applications from agricultural producers to fill two vacant Economic – Agriculture sector seats on a committee that is protecting municipal sources of drinking water.
The Ausable Bayfield Source Protection Authority (SPA), on behalf of the Ausable Bayfield Maitland Valley Drinking Water Source Protection Region, originally issued advertisements and a call for applications on August 15, 2017 with a deadline of September 25, 2017. The source protection authority has extended the application period until October 16, 2017 to provide ample time for applicants to submit and in order to develop a strong list of candidates from that sector.
The Ausable Bayfield Maitland Valley Drinking Water Source Protection Committee (SPC) is a 15-member committee in addition to the Chair. The committee reduces risk to drinking water in the Maitland Valley and Ausable Bayfield source protection areas. The SPC does this by putting into action locally developed and provincially approved source protection plans. The source protection authority is seeking applications from individuals to fill two vacant committee seats from the Economic – Agriculture sector.
Applications (cover letter and résumé), with position title clearly marked, are to be submitted by Monday, October 16, 2017 by 4 p.m. local time to be considered. For a summary of member obligations, job description, and full posting visit: www.sourcewaterinfo.on.ca. The source protection authority will review applications and select candidates based on the strength of their qualifications and interviews if required.
The make-up of the committee is shaped by the source protection committee regulation (Ontario Regulation 288/07) and by a local process that took place to decide how to include diverse voices at the committee table. One third of the committee is from municipalities. One third of the committee (five members) comes from economic sectors. Locally, three of those five economic member seats are from agriculture and the other two are from industry and commerce, including tourism. The other third of the committee represents Other – Environmental, Health, and other interests of the general public (including property owner association representation; public representation from the two source protection areas; and environmental sector representatives).
To find out more visit www.sourcewaterinfo.on.ca and www.ontario.ca. You may also call Geoffrey Cade, Program Supervisor, at 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888-286-2610 or email gcade@abca.on.ca.
Source Protection Committee Chair Matt Pearson said a committee member’s work is interesting and important. “We have benefitted from the expertise, knowledge and commitment of our past and current members,” he said. “We have two committee seats from the Agriculture Sector that are vacant at this time. We are looking for strong candidates to take on these vital roles as committee members.” It’s important to find the right people who can bring their knowledge and questions to the table, he said. “This helps to improve the work we do to implement, monitor, and update policies that are reducing risk to our local drinking water. It helps to keep our drinking water safe and clean, starting at the source.”
The Ausable Bayfield Maitland Valley Source Protection Committee was Ontario’s first. The SPC has worked since 2007 to create local terms of reference, assessment reports, and source protection plans. This work is made possible by the Ontario Clean Water Act, 2006. The Province of Ontario approved the locally developed plans on January 19, 2015 and the plans took effect on April 1, 2015. The source protection plans include policies to address 21 activities that can pose a threat to municipal drinking water sources in certain circumstances (for example, in certain locations such as municipal wellhead protection areas and in certain quantities).
Plan policies address a list of 21 activities (such as fuel or chemical storage, among others) in four types of vulnerable areas. The four vulnerable areas are wellhead protection areas (groundwater) which are zones around municipal wells; surface water intake protection zones; significant groundwater recharge areas; and highly vulnerable aquifers. You may find the maps of these areas at sourcewaterinfo.on.ca. Threat activities may be assessed as low, moderate or significant threats to municipal drinking water sources. In this region, significant threats to drinking water are only found in wellhead protection areas A, B, and C. Policies in those relatively small vulnerable areas reduce risk by tools ranging from education and outreach, to risk management plans, to restricted land uses, or prohibition of some activities.
To find out if you are in a vulnerable area near a municipal well, use the interactive maps or read a fact sheet on one of the 25 municipal well systems of the region at sourcewaterinfo.on.ca. You are invited to review the page on your community’s well, consult a detailed map of wellhead protection areas, and a fact sheet to let you know about the water source and treatment, explain the wellhead protection areas, and provide ways to protect these local drinking water sources. If you would like to learn if plan policies apply to you, or how you can protect local drinking water sources, visit the website at sourcewaterinfo.on.ca or phone toll-free 1-888-286-2610 or email info@sourcewaterinfo.on.ca.
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