Kawartha Well Stewardship Fund

Kawartha Conservation and the Victoria Land and Water Stewardship Council have partnered to create the Kawartha Well Stewardship Fund.

Landowners can get up to $800 dollars in match-funding for each well decommissioned or upgraded in the City of Kawartha Lakes.

Why Protect and Maintain Your Well?

Wells are a means of obtaining sufficiently clean water for residential, agricultural and industrial needs. Contrarily, wells can also become a target for non-point source pollution, such as urban and agricultural runoff, pesticides and animal wastes.

Well water pollution is most often the result of sources of contamination located too close to a well, improper construction or operation, or substandard maintenance of the well. Abandoned wells can also be a significant source of pollution.

As a private well owner, it is your responsibility to protect and maintain your well. Unsealed, abandoned wells and improperly sealed or maintained residential, business, institutional and farm wells provide a direct link between surface pollutants and groundwater.

Common surface pollutants include yard and farm runoff, which may contain pesticides, fertilizers, and animal wastes containing bacteria such as E. coli; and parking lot runoff, which may contain automotive fluids.

Identifying and sealing these wells by a licensed professional reduces the risk of contamination to groundwater, rivers and lakes.

Sampling and testing well water is also critical for ensuring that the well water is safe to drink. These and other measures will help to keep your well contaminant free.

Source: New York State Water Resources Institute Centre for Environmental Research, Cornell University. 1998. Ground Water Contamination, Bulletin No. 2. p. 9.

Landowner Eligibility

Landowners must meet the following criteria to be eligible:

• The property must be located within the City of Kawartha Lakes.
• Any proposed work must be completed by a licensed well contractor (as per O. Reg. 903/90 amended to O. Reg. 128/03).
• Funding assistance approval is dependent on available project funds, project type, location and priority.

Eligible Expenses

The Kawartha Well Stewardship Fund covers 50% of the eligible costs, which may include:

• Construction materials
• Licensed contractor and/or licensed technician fees
• Permit fees
• Well decommissioning
• Well upgrades
• Other amounts as determined by Kawartha Conservation and the Victoria Land and Water Stewardship Council

Click here to down load an Application, Agreement for Funding Assistance and Waiver. Please print out the complete package and fill out each form, sign where indicated and send to:

Kawartha Conservation
277 Kenrei Road
Lindsay ON K9V 4R1

ATTN: Sasha Lambrinos

Or fax to 705.328.2286

 

All applications must be received by September 2, 2008.

 

To find out more about the program or the application process, contact Sasha Lambrinos at 705.328.2271 ext. 224 or email at slambrinos@kawarthaconservation.com