The ''Clean Water Act'' (S.O. 2006, Chapter 22) is a law enacted by the Legislative Assembly of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. The purpose of this Act is to protect existing and future sources of

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ag ...

. The ''Clean Water Act, 2006'' (Bill 43) is a major part of the Ontario government's commitment to ensuring that every Ontarian has access to safe drinking water. Protecting water at its source is the first step in the

multi-barrier approach The Multi-barrier approach is a key paradigm for ensuring safe drinking water in jurisdictions such as Ontario, elsewhere in Canada, and New Zealand. It is defined as, An integrated system of procedures, processes and tools that collectively prevent ...

to source water protection. By stopping contaminants from getting into sources of drinking water — lakes, rivers and aquifers — we can provide the first line of defence in the protection of our environment and the health of Ontarians. For the first time, communities will be required to create and carry out a plan to protect the sources of their municipal drinking water supplies. The ''Clean Water Act, 2006'' will: * Require local communities to look at the existing and potential threats to their water and set out and implement the actions necessary to reduce or eliminate significant threats. * Empower communities to take action to prevent threats from becoming significant. * Require public participation on every local source protection plan. This means everyone in the community gets a chance to contribute to the planning process. * Require that all plans and actions are based on sound science. This legislation sets out a basic framework for the establishment of community-based groups that represent a cross-section of sectors and geographic areas within

Conservation Authority (Canada) A conservation authority is a local, community-based natural resource management agency based in Ontario, Canada. Conservation authorities represent groupings of municipalities on a watershed basis and work in partnership with other agencies to ...

boundaries. These community-based groups are called Source Protection Committees and there are 19 such groups across Ontario. The ''Clean Water Act, 2006'' also introduced the Ontario Drinking Water Stewardship Program (ODWSP) a financial assistance program for farmers, landowners and small or medium businesses for activities that reduce threats to municipal drinking water sources.

External links

Ontario e-Laws Database

Ontario Ministry of the Environment

External links

See also