NVCA will help protect local wells

Starting this winter, and extending into the spring, Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority staff will be sending letters and knocking on the doors of those who live closest to their 114 municipal wells.

Landowners and businesses near town drinking water intakes and wells are eligible for special grants, workshops through the Ontario Drinking Water Stewardship program and a free one-on-one visit to learn how they can help protect drinking water.

Those contacted will live within 100 metres of a municipal wellhead or 200 metres from a surface water intake. It means that what you do on your property can potentially impact the quality of your and your neighbour's drinking water.

Since 90 per cent of land in southern Ontario is privately owned, individual citizens need to be a big part of the solution. Only by working together can common drinking water be protected.

The program aims to provide a multi-barrier approach to drinking water protection. A multibarrier approach means that if one step should fail, we lessen the potential health risk by protecting the very source of our drinking water. That way, we reduce any possible contamination in the first place.

The program will provide sound science-based information, technical advice and financial assistance. Eligible landowners can access grants for up to 70 per cent of the cost of upgrading existing wells and decommissioning abandoned wells, upgrading or inspecting septics, or connecting to available municipal sewer lines.

Costs for protecting wells and intakes from runoff can also be covered.

This province-wide program is funded through the Ministry of Environment, with $2 million going to local agencies to educate the public about drinking source water protection. The province has provided $5 million to provide grants to assist landowners in high-risk areas to do environmental projects that lessen the risk of contaminating our drinking water supply.

The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority, Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority and Severn Sound Environmental Association will be delivering this program to people in local watersheds.

Conservation Corner is a monthly column that looks at the theory, practices, technology and benefits of land & water stewardship. The NVCA is your public agency dedicated to the preservation of a healthy environment. As your partner, the NVCA provides the expertise to help protect our water, our land and our future. For comments or suggestions about this column or for more information on the Ontario Drinking Water Stewardship program, please contact Shannon Stephens at 424-1479 ext. 239 or visit www.nvca.on.ca.