Drinking Water Source Protection
Measures the number of provincial and territorial jurisdictions with source water protection programs
It’s important to be transparent that this Shared Measurement System was designed from a non-Indigenous worldview and we recognize that Indigenous ways of knowing are absent from it. For more information on this positioning, see our Right Relations page.
Overview
Source water protection (SWP) is the first line of defense for procurement of safe drinking water, emphasizing that water needs to be kept clean at its source, not just through treatment.
The last comprehensive review of source water protection planning happened in 2011. At the time, seven jurisdictions had dedicated source water protection programs that could create plans with legally-binding restrictions on activities: British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Prince Edward Island. Of this list, only Manitoba, New Brunswick and Ontario mandated consultation in SWP planning and programs, and all three as well as Saskatchewan had dedicated funding for SWP. In 2011, four jurisdictions had varied levels of SWP planning including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Yukon.
To note, while source water protection planning was enabled in Ontario under the Clean Water Act 2006, it has progressed considerably since the 2011 evaluation. Communities worked collaboratively on watershed-based plans and as of 2015/16, 22 plans were approved by the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, covering over 450 drinking water systems. These are now in the implementation phase.
Last updated November 2017
No. of provincial and territorial jurisdictions with source water protection programs designed to protect drinking water from source to tap
7
+4 with partial protections
Number of provincial and territorial jurisdictions with source water protection programs designed to protect drinking water from source to tap
Provincial/territorial jurisdictions with source water protection programs designed to protect drinking water from source to tap
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Note: The data presented here represents our best research given the time and resources at hand. We acknowledge there may be errors. This shared measurement system belongs to all members of the Our Living Water Network, so if you have any corrections for us, or ideas to share on this measure, please send us an email at info@ourlivingwaters.ca.