Watershed Security for Ontario

June 25, 2025

The OHI extends our full appreciation to organizations and individuals seeking to un-do the recent reductions in environmental safeguards and Ontarian’s legal and democratic processes under Bills 5 and 17, as well as to community groups opposed to the impact that Strong Mayor powers is having on local decision-making and accountability. 

Regardless of the result of these important discussions, we believe that the key to protecting Ontario’s watersheds is to shift away from what has become a diluted and fragmented approach to watershed management to a strategic framework for watershed security, which we define as healthy and resilient watersheds that protect regional ecological integrity, social wellbeing, and economic vitality.

While the Province needs to stop sacrificing environmental safeguards and watershed security to facilitate actions to address the housing crisis, we suggest that the most positive future direction to protect our water, maintain democracy, and address the housing crisis would be to integrate land use and watershed planning at the municipal level.

We are therefore pleased to announce that we have re-focused our extensive suite of positions papers from April, with their 26 recommendations, to a one-pager with nine recommendations, which you can see here – Watershed Security for Municipalities the Need to Integrate Land Use and Watershed Planning June 25 2025

Over the next few months, we will be sharing this widely, making presentations, and working to develop a toolkit for municipalities.

We are also working on similar efforts to address watershed security for aggregate extraction, the Great Lakes, and agriculture.

Please contact us via andrew at ontarioheadwaters dot ca for more information, and to sign up for our newsletter to be kept in the loop. 

You can support the OHI by making a donation here.

Archive

Introduction:  Ontario Needs an Outcomes-based Framework for Watershed Security April 22 2025

Recommendations to the Province:  Restoring the Provincial Vision to Protect Our Watersheds April 22 2025 

Recommendations at the Municipal Level:  Integrating Land Use and Watershed Planning through a Municipal Charter April 22 2025

Recommendations for Conservation Authorities: A Revitalized and Expanded Role for Conservation Authorities April 22 2025

All the above in one document:  Introduction and First Three Sets of Recommendations on Watershed Security April 22 2025