If you live near a municipal drinking water system, things you do on your property could impact the water in that system. Before the municipality allows you to make any changes to your property, you need to get approval from the Risk Management Official.
Source Protection Notice Application
You can also download the application and submit it by email or in person at the Kawartha Conservation office. The Risk Management Official will review your application and give you the notice to proceed or contact you to complete a Risk Management Plan. We will contact you within three business days to update you on your application status. There is no fee for this notice.
Negotiating a risk management plan
If you are planning to undertake an activity that could pose one of the following threats, you may need a Risk Management Plan.
Residential threats |
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Residential threats to water sources include storing:
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Agricultural threats |
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Agricultural threats to water sources can include storing or applying:
Livestock grazing or confinement on your property can threaten water sources. |
Commercial/industrial threats |
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Commercial and industrial threats to waters sources include storing or applying:
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If your property needs a Risk Management Plan, we will contact you to set up a site visit. During the site visit, we will talk with you about what you need to do on your property as well as how to draft your Risk Management Plan. The plan may include:
- Actions you can take to reduce the threat to the local water source
- A map of your property's vulnerable areas and policies from the local source protection plan that apply to you
Together, we will discuss the plan and answer any questions you have. If you are happy with the Risk Management Plan, both you and the Risk Management Official will sign it.
Do I need a source protection notice?
You need a notice if you own property in a vulnerable area near a municipal drinking water system and have filed a Planning or Building application with the municipality. See the Province's maps or check out our property mapping to know if you are in one of these vulnerable areas.
Actions that require a source protection notice
If you live in a vulnerable area, you will need a source protection notice in order to apply for a:
- Zoning by-law amendment
- Official plan amendment
- Site Plan Approval
- Minor Variance
- Consent
- Building permit
About the source protection plan
To protect municipal drinking water sources from pollution like that of Walkerton in 2000, the Clean Water Act and source water protection plans exist. These plans have policies to make sure that the water will always be safe to drink. Some of these policies need a Risk Management Plan to be negotiated to make sure that what is being done near the water source is not harmful to it. Other policies stop certain activities from happening on the property.
More information
If you want more information about what you can do to protect your drinking water you can visit: