Developing a Municipal Source Water Protection Plan
On October 17, 2002, the Province of Nova Scotia released a comprehensive drinking water strategy. As stated in the Minister's message, the success of the strategy rests on the ability of all the stakeholders to work together effectively to achieve the goal of delivery of safe, clean drinking water to all Nova Scotians. The strategy outlines a multi-barrier approach to achieve this goal. The barriers are:
- Keeping clean water clean;
- Making the water safe to drink;
- Proving the water is safe to drink.
An important responsibility of the provincial government is to issue approvals for the construction and operation of water treatment and distribution facilities. One of the conditions of these approvals is that a Municipality or Water Utility must develop a Source Water Protection Plan for their drinking water source area. This will address the first barrier in the multi-barrier approach: Keep clean water clean. Protecting a source of drinking water is an important part of delivering a sustainable supply of high quality drinking water. In order for a Municipality or Utility to meet the conditions of its Approval to Operate, a completed Source Water Protection Plan is to be submitted to Nova Scotia Environment and Labour (NSEL) by September 2005.
NSEL has published a five part series of technical documents that provide detailed guidance to those who have to prepare a Source Water Protection Plan.
- Step 1 - Form a Source Water Protection Advisory Committee (PDF: 100k)
- Step 2 - Delineate a Source Water Protection Area Boundary (PDF: 217k)
- Step 3 - Identify Potential Contaminants and Assess Risk (PDF: 326k)
- Step 4 - Develop a Source Water Protection Management Plan (PDF: 135k)
- Step 5 - Develop a Monitoring Program to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Source Water Protection Plan (PDF: 102k)
NSEL has also developed an overview booklet that summarizes the protection process and the information in the technical documents.
- Developing a Municipal Source Water Protection Plan: A Guide for Water Utilities and Municipalities (PDF: 80k)
While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of information contained in the guidance documents, the information should not be construed as legal advice on the requirements for a municipal source water protection plan.
