It is Always Good to Have a Plan

The Mattagami Region Conservation Authority Approves Submission of the Source Water Protection Plan to the Ministry of the Environment

Timmins, ON – Water is something that we often take for granted, until something goes wrong. An example of this is the Walkerton Water Tragedy. In an effort to prevent such a devastating tragedy from happening again, the provincial government enacted the Clean Water Act, which ultimately led to the development of Source Protection Plans across the province.   A Source Protection Plan was developed for the City of Timmins drinking water source, the Mattagami River. The Mattagami Region Source Protection Committee submitted the Proposed Plan to the Ministry of the Environment in August 2012. After more than a year of review, the Plan was returned to the Committee on October 4, 2013 with seven recommended policy revisions.   The “official comments” were recently addressed at a meeting of the Source Protection Committee. The Committee agreed to all of the recommended changes provided by the Ministry of the Environment and was pleased to submit the revised Plan to the Mattagami Region Source Protection Authority for their review and approval.   Andrew Marks, Chair of the Mattagami Region Source Protection Authority, said, “The Source Protection Authority would like to congratulate the Mattagami Region Source Protection Committee on all their hard work over the last six years to produce this document which will ensure the protection of the City’s drinking water source now and into the future.”   The revised Proposed Source Protection Plan and Explanatory Document were reviewed by the Mattagami Region Source Protection Authority at the beginning of the week. The Authority will be re-submitting the revised Plan and Explanatory Document to the Ministry of the Environment before the end of the year.   It is expected that the Plan will be approved in the spring of 2014. After the approval, the next step is preparing for the implementation of the Plan and the related policies.