News in Brief

To: Watershed News Media

Posted: 5:00 p.m. August 24, 2006

CRCA Presents to Standing Committee on Clean Water Act

The Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority (CRCA) made a presentation at the Standing Committee on Social Policy in Bath today. The Committee was seeking input on the proposed Clean Water Act, which would enable communities to plan for the protection of drinking water sources.

"We support the intent of the Clean Water Act to protect drinking water," said Stephen Knechtel, CRCA general manager. "However, the focus of the Act on protecting only municipal drinking water is too narrow. Everyone in the province has the right to safe, clean drinking water, not just people on municipal water systems."

The CRCA recommended a number of changes to the Clean Water Act:

preparing source water protection plans for an entire watershed, not just the area around a municipal water intake
protecting rural, non-municipal sources of drinking water such as wells and surface water intakes
less emphasis on regulation and more emphasis on voluntary initiatives such as education and watershed stewardship programs
long-term funding to help communities implement the proposed source water protection plans.

"The "carrot" approach is much more successful than the "stick" approach," added Knechtel. "It's important to involve landowners in the process and to help them do their part to keep water clean. We can only do that if the province agrees to provide long-term sustainable funding for stewardship programs."

The CRCA's presentation to the Standing Committee can be found on the CRCA website at www.cataraquiregion.on.ca. Additional background information on source water protection is also available here.

For more information call:

Stephen Knechtel, General Manager/Secretary-Treasurer (613) 546-4228 ext. 239

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