1 1 ontario’s legislative framework for groundwater presentation to canwell 2004 conference april...
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Ontario’s Legislative
Framework for Groundwater
Presentation to CanWell 2004 Conference
April 23/04, Kelowna, BC
Matt Uza, Senior Policy Analyst
Water Policy Branch
Ontario Ministry of the Environment
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Presentation Overview
• Ontario Water Resources Act– Wells Regulation
• Safe Drinking Water Act– Drinking Water Systems Regulation
• Source Water Protection Framework
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Ontario Water Resources Act (OWRA)
• Promulgated in early 1960s
• General provisions re powers, offences, appeals, orders, and regulation-making
• Water Taking (enables permitting for amounts > 50,000 l/d)
• Wells (well permit, contractor license, technician license)
• Water and Sewage Works (approval of works)
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Regulations Under OWRA
Wells (Regulation 903)
– amended in 2003
– supports Walkerton Inquiry recommendations
– improved rules for well construction, abandonment and for licensing/training of contractors and technicians
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Types of Wells Addressed
Old 903 Requirements:
• Did not address non-water wells (e.g. test holes & dewatering wells)
• Did not address sand point wells constructed by homeowners
• Did not address municipal and high production wells
Amended 903 Requirements:
• Covers all wells included in OWRA definition of “well”
• Clarification of rules and exemptions for test holes & dewatering wells
• Allows certain test holes and de-watering wells less than 3m deep to be “shallow works” and exempt from most requirements
• Clear requirements for jetted and driven (i.e. sand point) wells
• Some new standards for high yield wells and double wall casing
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Updated Training & Licensing
Old 903 Requirements:
• Training course not required for well technician license
• Applicants for well technician license must have 6 months experience AND 24 months work experience or education
• No continuing education require-ments for license renewal
• Well contractor insurance requirements: minimum $200k total liability per incident
Amended 903 Requirements:
• Well technician license applicants must take MOE-approved training course of at least 30 hrs AND 4,000 hrs relevant work experience
• 21 hrs of continuing education over 3 years required for license renewal
• Insurance requirements increased to reflect current claims: minimum $5,000,000 total liability per incident
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Improved Reporting & Tracking
Old 903 Requirements:
• The person constructing a well must record general information about the well on a form supplied by MOE
• Location of well recorded on only general terms, eg lot and concession, sketch
• No tag or other identifying markings on wells
Amended 903 Requirements:
• Person constructing or abandoning a well must provide an accurate description of the well, including:
• exact geographic co-ordinates from GPS unit
• prepare a log of the geological materials using simplified standard materials list
• Placement of well tags to improve tracking, compliance, monitoring
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New Outreach to Well Owners
Old 903 Requirement:
• No information provided to owner concerning their responsibilities for well stewardship
Amended 903 Requirement:
• Contractor must provide owner with MOE-approved Well Owner Information Package
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Updated Construction Standards
Old 903 Requirements:• Secure well cap preventing
entry of surface water or foreign materials.
• Construction of higher risk shallow dug wells using non-water tight cement tiles not prohibited.
• Permissible sealants for space surrounding casing subject to shrinking & cracking (e.g. non-commercial clay slurry).
• Only ½ metre of sealant, 2.5 cm thick around casing.
Amended 903 Requirements:• Well cap also “commercially
manufactured and vermin-proof”• Allows new casing material to
be used (fibreglass). • All casing must be continuous
and water-tight. • Sealants must expand to create
a permanent watertight seal.• A minimum of 6 metres of
sealant, 3.8 cm thick around casing.
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Updated Construction Standards (cont.’d)
Old 903 Requirements:
• Well pits permitted, creating potential for contaminated surface water ponding over wellhead.
• Chlorine dose for well disinfection set at a minimum of 250 mg/l.
Amended 903 Requirements:
• Well pits not allowed
• Chlorine dose for well disinfection set at new standard of 50 mg/l over 12 hours in line with scientific study.
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Well Abandonment
Old 903 Requirements:
• Wells may be plugged with any “suitable” material
• No methodology provided
Amended 903 Requirements:
• Requirements for 3 different diameters of well
• Special requirements for flowing wells
• Clear methodology prescribed
• More stringent requirements for plugging materials
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How is Ontario Supporting Implementation of the Amended Wells Regulation?
• Well Technician Training Program (Sir Sandford Fleming College)
• Well Owner Outreach (Well Aware Campaign)• Well Tagging System (WHI)• Wells Research Partnership (CRESTech)• Discover 903 Information Workshops (OGWA)• New Ministry Publications on Wells
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New Ministry Well Publications
• ‘Well Aware’ Video and Booklet
• Well Tag Booklet
• New Fact Sheets (reflect amendments)
• Medical Officer of Health Well Information Kit
• Laypersons Guide to Regulation 903 (pending)
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Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
• Walkerton Outbreak (May 2000)
• Interim Drinking Water Regulations under OWRA
• Part 2 Report of Walkerton Inquiry (May 2002)– Recommendation 67: “The provincial government
should enact a Safe Drinking Water Act to deal with
matters related to the treatment and distribution of
drinking water”.
• SDWA received royal assent in December, 2002
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Regulations Under SDWA
• Drinking Water Systems (Reg. 170/03)
• Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standards (Reg. 169/03) enforceable health-based standards
• Drinking Water Testing Services (Reg. 248/03) licensing of drinking water laboratories
• Schools, Private Schools and Day Nurseries (Reg. 173/03) flushing of plumbing to protect children
• Other “administrative” regulations
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Regulation 170/03 - Overview
• System Categories• GUDI • Treatment• Approval/Certification of Systems• Operational Checks• Microbiological Testing• Chemical Testing• Adverse Conditions• Corrective Actions• Record Keeping/Retention• Public Access to Information • Reporting
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Categories of Drinking-Water Systems
• Municipal– large residential (>100 private residences)– small residential (6 to 100 private residences)– large non-residential (e.g. airport, industrial park)– small non-residential (e.g. community centre)
• Non-Municipal– year-round residential (e.g. subdivision, mobile home pk)– seasonal residential (e.g. trailer park, cottage system)– large non-residential (e.g. industry, large school/hospital)– small non-residential (e.g. restaurant, motel, school)
individual homes (<6) and small workplaces not regulated
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Treatment - Equipment
• Groundwater– primary disinfection capable of 99 percent removal/
inactivation (R/I) of viruses.
• Surface Water– chemically-assisted filtration and primary disinfection
(or equivalent) capable of 99, 99.9, 99.99 percent R/I of crypto, giardia, viruses respectively.
• Distribution System– chlorination or chloramination capable of achieving
chlorine residuals of 0.2 mg/l (free) or 1.0 mg/l (combined) throughout the system, as case may be.
All equipment to be designed/certified in accordance with “Procedure for Disinfection of Drinking Water in Ontario”
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Groundwater Under Direct Influence Of Surface Water (GUDI)
• A GUDI system is deemed to be a surface water system for purposes of the regulation.
• The regulation deems certain types of systems to be GUDI based on well characteristics, type of aquifer, distance from surface water etc.
• A deemed GUDI system can be “undeemed” if valid reasons are presented a report written by a professional engineer or hydrogeologist (for municipal residential systems which require approval, Ministry must agree)
• Above report must be retained by owner for 15 years
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Deemed GUDI Systems
1) Systems that obtain water from a well:
– that is not a drilled well;
– that does not have a watertight casing extending to a depth of 6 m;
– for a system not capable of 0.58 l/s (50,000 l/d):• is within 15 m of surface water
– for a system capable of at least 0.58 l/s (50,000 l/d):• within 100 m of surface water (overburden)• within 500 m of surface water (bedrock)
2) Systems that obtain water from an infiltration gallery
3) Systems showing evidence of surface contamination
4) Systems with report concluding that raw water is GUDI
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Application for Relief from Treatment
• Only available for groundwater-based systems
• Accomplished through a condition in a Ministry approval
• System owner must conduct public consultation and document proceedings
• Municipal residential systems require an assessment by a Professional Hydrogeologist and Council resolution
• Systems other than municipal residential require an assessment by a Professional Engineer (P. Eng.)
• Ministry must agree with assessment before approving
• System owner must re-apply for relief every five years
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Content of Hydrogeologist’s Assessment
• Assessment of well(s), relevant aquifers, well head protection, and existing/anticipated land uses;
• Results of previous 24 months of all regulatory testing;
• Summary of any health issues/concerns related to the system that were identified by local Medical Officer of Health (MOH);
• Written statement confirming consultation with local MOH and request for info from MOH related to the system.
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Content of Engineer’s Assessment
• Raw Water Characterization– results of prescribed 24 month raw water microbiological testing program;– results of all other microbiological testing done in previous 24 months;– results of any tests showing past evidence in raw water of viruses,
chlorophyll a, protozoa, macro-organisms– written statement confirming no significant or rapid shifts in pH, turbidity,
temperature, conductivity, NO3/NO2 for raw water
• Assessment of microbiological risk wrt well construction, well head protection, distribution system (DS), any connections from DS to plumbing;
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Content of Engineer’s Assessment (cont.’d)
• System operation/maintenance plan related to managing microbiological risk;
• Summary of health issues/concerns related to the system that were identified by local MOH
• Written statement confirming consultation with local MOH and request for info from MOH related to the system
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Source Water Protection Framework
What is Driving This?
• Part 2 Report of Walkerton Inquiry made 22 recommendations relating to source water protection.
• SDWA regulates 4 of the 5 components of a multi-barrier approach to drinking water protection (treatment, distribution, monitoring, response)
• Source water protection is the fifth component.
• Recognition that supply is not unlimited (climate change, growth in southern Ontario)
• Recognition that water is undervalued (charges levied on timber or minerals on Crown land)
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Source Water Protection Framework
White Paper Consultation on source water protection held for public and stakeholders across
Ontario in March, 2004 to consult on:
• proposed legislative approach
• enhanced management of water taking• charging for water
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Proposed Source Protection Legislation
• Key components of legislation may include:
– watershed-based source protection plans (terms of reference, public/stakeholder input, responsibility and oversight, approval of plans, appeals);
– establishment of/amendments to watershed boundaries;
– organization of watersheds into “watershed regions” to gain efficiencies;
– governance (e.g. establishment of necessary local boards and committees).
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Management of Water Takings
• Potential Direction:
– enhanced notification by permit applicant to potentially affected parties and the public;
– commit to improving the science behind the assessment of proposed water takings;
– monitoring and reporting of water use;
– better guidance for permit applicants.
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Water Taking Charges
Ontario committed to charging for commercial use
• Issues:
– trade implications?
– charge variability by volume thresholds, type of source, consumptive uses, geographic location?
– exempted uses (e.g. fire protection, drinking, livestock)?
– frequency of payment?
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More Information?
Ontario Ministry of the Environment Website
www.ene.gov.on.ca
Ontario Statutes and Regulations Website
www.e-laws.gov.on.ca