Niagara leads the country in source protection planning
Figure 1: The NWQPS study area.
Figure 2: The relationship between vision, goals, objectives and actions hierarchy.
In late 2001, the Regional
Municipality of Niagara (Niagara
Region), Niagara Peninsula
Conservation Authority (NPCA),
and Ontario Ministry of Environment
(MOE), consulted to consider ways to
more effectively manage Niagara’s
water resources. All parties agreed that
to properly protect the area’s water, a
more integrated approach would be
required that took into consideration
all jurisdictional levels. To this end, the
three principals commissioned a study
in August 2002 to develop Niagara’s
Water Quality Protection Strategy
(NWQPS).
The consortium of MacViro
Consultants, CH2M HILL Canada,
and Philips Engineering, along with
eight specialist firms, including Lura
Consulting (which completed the community
engagement component),
worked together with area stakeholders
to produce the strategy in only 14
months, releasing it in October 2003.
The purpose of NWQPS was to
develop the foundation for a comprehensive
water protection strategy for
all watersheds within Niagara. The
NWQPS is an integrated, multi-jurisdictional
plan that guides the respective
authorities on how best to protect
and manage water-dependent resources.
It was organized into six
mutually supported themes: human
health, natural environment, property
risk and assessment, recreation, agriculture,
and commerce.
Strategies involved intensive data
gathering, including
over 1,000 data items,
comprising reports,
maps, databases, and
general information
from 14 area municipalities
and over 30
formal agencies and
watershed groups.
Based on this information,
an assessment
was conducted of the
sensitivity and value
of the area’s water
resources, as well as
their potential ‘stressors’
such as sources
of contamination,
flooding, water taking,
etc.
The understanding gained from the
study area characterization was subsequently
used to develop the management
strategy. This part of the work
involved significant consultation with
area stakeholders to develop a prioritized
action plan, comprised of over
400 area-wide and locally-specific
activities organized into 11 focussed
Action Programs, to address core
issues related to water quantity and
quality management.
Study area
Figure 1 shows that the study area
encompasses a number of watersheds
and subwatersheds that discharge flow
to Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the
Niagara River. There are a total of 145
primary subwatersheds within the
study area. These watershed areas,
with a total drainage area of 2,424 km,
fall within three municipal jurisdictions,
including the Region of Niagara,
the City of Hamilton and Haldimand
County.
Strategy hierarchy
A number of watershed issues were
grouped into six themes. The NWQPS
itself was structured around a set of
actions, organized by programs that
individually do not specifically
address any one goal but in combination
were developed to achieve the
respective objectives, goals, and
vision. Programs are made up of policy
reviews, capital works projects, and
studies that are designed to address the
issues on a Region-wide basis and on a
Local Management Areas/smaller subwatershed
scale. These actions are
considered mutually supporting to fulfill
the respective theme-based objectives,
goals, and vision. Figure 2 illustrates
the relationship between vision,
goals, objectives, and actions hierarchy.
Action programs
The initial long list of issues was
developed in accordance with the sixtheme
concept. A summary of the
Action Programs that cohesively
address the core issues include:
Public/Stakeholder Education and
Consultation
Data Collection/Monitoring
Land Use Planning
Regulations/Policies
Land and Property Management
Watershed and Natural Heritage
System Study
Groundwater Study/Protection
Agricultural Practices
Financing, Taxation, Funding
Incentives
Energy, New Technology, Best
Practices
Maintenance/Management/Repair
of Infrastructure and Remediation
of Contaminated Sites
Strategy implementation
Before implementation could
begin, a framework needed to be
developed that ensures that the effort
continues to meet the strategy’s goals.
From an extensive review of other
jurisdictions, it was found that several
types of implementation frameworks
are available. Further investigation
indicated that those that are successful
tend to reflect Public Sector governance
with substantial stakeholder
involvement.
Key elements considered in the
development of an implementation
framework for the NWQPS included:
Use existing resources in an efficient
and cost-effective manner;
Remain accountable to local taxpayers
and other levels of government;
and
Include opportunities for public/private
partnering and input.
Subsequently, a near-term implementation
framework was prepared
which recognized the links between
the Region of Niagara, the Niagara
Peninsula Conservation Authority, and
watershed-area municipalities.
Communication
Throughout the study, public consultation
was a significant part of the
strategy development and included
five advisory meetings with stakeholders
and two formal public meetings. A
Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC)
was also formed as part of the study’s
public consultation process. The goal
for CAC was to ensure citizen engagement
in water quality and quantity
issues.
The communication process will
continue in the implementation of the
strategy. A key component of the
Implementation Team’s monitoring
activity will be to report on the status
of the watersheds to demonstrate the
changes arising from the implementation
of the NWQPS. An integral component
of this process will be public
education/awareness and involvement
to develop an open information sharing
process.
Gauging the success of the NWQPS is important to the Niagara Region, its residents, and its
neighbours. It is for this reason that a template for a
Regional Report Card was developed. The report cards are
meant to demonstrate relative levels of improvement or
degradation in the six theme areas developed as part of the
NWQPS. In order to make these comparisons, baseline
monitoring will need to be established for each of the monitoring
areas. Following this initial monitoring, grades can
be assigned based on the level of improvement in each area.
Periodic updating of the strategy will be required in
order to incorporate the findings of the monitoring plan
and to address new approaches which arise. Recommendations
were made that the strategy be updated on a fiveyear
basis.
Integration of NWQPS with
provincial planning framework
NWQPS is a significant undertaking that will address
the need for source protection planning recommended in
Part One and Part Two reports of The Walkerton Inquiry and
anticipated as a legislative requirement by the Province. It
is important that the NWQPS meets the source protection
planning requirements and, at the same time, be implemented
through a framework that meets the specific
requirements of the Niagara Region, area municipalities,
and other key stakeholders.
In April 2003, the provincial government’s Advisory
Committee on Watershed-based Source Protection
Planning released their final report entitled, Protecting
Ontario’s Drinking Water: Toward a Watershed based
Source Protection Planning Framework.
NWQPS essentially, is the foundation for a Source
Protection Plan. The plan has been developed, however, to
this point, without the benefit of the province’s Source
Protection Planning Framework. The implementation
framework provides a structure that is in conformance with
the requirements put forward in the province’s Source
Protection Planning Framework and will ensure that the
recommendations that were put forward in the two
Walkerton Inquiry reports are addressed.
NWQPS priorities
Implementation of the NWQPS is now being directed by
an Implementation Committee that has the mandate to initiate
the implementation priorities and to determine the
ultimate framework structure that will provide for the longterm
management of the Strategy. In the proposed
Framework for Implementation, it is suggested that an
Implementation Team be set up to conduct the respective
Action Programs that support the NWQPS.
Specifically, the Implementation Team will be responsible
for the direct actions being implemented directly as a
result of the NWQPS. In addition, the Implementation
Team will need to be informed by a host of indirect actions,
which are, or will be, undertaken by other stakeholders
across Niagara.
Some examples of important direct actions include:
Taking stock of existing environmental monitoring programs,
assessing data gaps, and establishing new partnerships
along with harmonized standards;
Standardizing land use regulations and policies across
the Region;
Conducting a pilot project in an appropriate urban centre
to determine stormwater retrofit opportunities;
Developing maps of all significant water takings (link to
groundwater study);
Establishing a Rural Water Quality Demonstration project
(link to benefits to downstream urban users);
Conducting user surveys to characterize recreational use,
attitudes, and opinions;
Preparing Local Area report cards and setting up local
interest groups; and
Developing relational database actions, status, and other
benefits, etc.
Some equally important indirect actions include:
Petitioning area municipalities, agencies, and stakeholders
on current and planned initiatives;
Developing an information transfer protocol;
Supporting and participating on complementary initiatives
by way of information transfer; and
Setting up an Advisory Committee structure.
Implementation of the NWQPS will continue in 2004
and into 2005, with many actions items being undertaken
and many more stakeholders becoming involved to ensure
that the vision of Water for Life becomes a reality.
Contributing authors include Mario Conetta, MacViro
Consultants Inc. (905-475-7270),
Tom Mahood, CH2M HILL Canada Limited (519-579-3501,)
Ronald B. Scheckenberger, Philips Engineering Ltd. (905-335-2353),
Bob Steele, Region of Niagara (905-685-4225) and
Sandra Znajda, Lura Consultants (416-644-1803).
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