Lake Simcoe 'a challenging area to study'
by Michelle Minnoch

Don Goodyear, Manager of Source Protection Planning, provided the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) Board of Directors an update of Source Water Protection (SWP) at their last meeting.

"It's a challenging area to study," he said of the watershed, which is comprised of four watershed (LSRCA, Black Sever River, NVCA, Severn Sound EA), 59 municipalities, three First Nations communities and covers 10,000 square kilometers.

With the largest number of watersheds in the province, Goodyear said there is a lot to the system that needs to be understood.

"We are currently working towards an Assessment Report," he said as part of the Components of a Source Protection Plan (SPP).

The Assessment Report would provide a characterization of the watershed, Water Budget estimates, delineation of WHPA, IPZ, recharge and vulnerable areas, and a risk assessment of threats in these features.

"The Source Protection planning process focuses on the assessments of a threat," he said. "Risks identified are a combination of the threats in place."

The SPP also includes policies to address existing significant threats, policies to ensure future threats do not become significant ones, and policies regarding activities in WHPA and IPZ, including permitted activities

and activities permitted with conditions and/or a supporting study. Goodyear said he would like to see technical support from SWP staff, support from partner agencies, and various advisory groups, all working together for source water protection.

"The Source Protection process is based on risk," he said. According to the Risk Based Approach, Threats + Pathways = Risk. Goodyear said risk is based upon the presence of threat and the vulnerability of the threat.

"The Pathways are a set of physical conditions that allow the threat to travel to drinking water sources."

Goodyear outlined the four types of pathways, which include Aquifer Vulnerability, Wellhead Protection Area, Intake Protection Zone, and Significant Recharge.

"When you combine the threats in a vulnerable area, you have risk."

The LSRCA is presently has an excellent relationship between the other Conservation Authorities, has established a technical foundation, has ongoing stakeholder and municipal consultation, has a peer review committee in place to confirm the process, and has collected data for the project.

The timeline for the project is as follows; 2007 - Regulations to be released and Source Protection Committee to be formed; 2008 - Watershed Assessment Reports to be completed; 2009/2010 - Source Protection Plans to be completed.