Some time ago, MOECC issued a contract to a conservation authority to develop a guidance document for Municipal Water Sustainability Plans. MWSPs, mandated under the Water Opportunities Act (formerly the Water Opportunities and Water Conservation Act), are supposed to address drinking, storm, and waste water, as well as water conservation and the impact of municipal water on Ontario’s water resources. OHI does not know of any NGO that had been involved in or even knew of this “consultation”, but we stumbled onto a notice about a webinar, being run by the CA. Requests to clarify how NGOs had been involved prior to the webinar, and if where and how NGOs might be provided further opportunities to comment in the future, either to the conservation authority or to the Province, went essentially unanswered, although the CA did ask if we could identify some organizations for an NGO webinar about 10 days before a deadline for submission, where that period included Labour Day. We declined. Although we had very limited time, we participated in the webinar and submitted comments about the lack of a watershed approach, holes in the 10 white papers, the cherry-picking of areas of focus, and the absence of conservation, among other aspects. Please see our comments here – OHI to CVC on MWSP Sept 2. The OHI will update this file downstream.
Promoting Watershed Security in Ontario:
ecological integrity, social wellbeing, and economic vitality
