The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) has approved changes to the source protection plan (SPP) and assessment report for the Maitland Valley Source Protection Area.
The original source protection plan for the Maitland Valley area was first approved in 2015 and amended in 2019 and now in 2024. The updates include new technical work and revised maps to incorporate recent changes to the Century Heights and Lucknow municipal drinking water systems. There are no policy changes; existing policies now apply to the revised wellhead protection areas (WHPAs) for these systems.
The updated plan took effect on July 24th when the Province of Ontario posted approval on the Environmental Registry of Ontario. The amendments were made under Section 34 of the Ontario Clean Water Act, 2006.
The updated Century Heights WHPA includes new municipal well number 3 in Saltford, Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh. The updated Lucknow WHPA reflects increased water allowances for the Lucknow system in Huron-Kinloss. Chapter 4 of the Maitland Valley Assessment Report now includes these changes.
The approval follows consultations with implementing bodies in January-February 2024 and the public between February 6 and March 14, 2024. The updated plan can be found on the local source protection region’s website.
Written by: K. Milhomens
