Changes

Spurred mainly by the [https://environmentaldefence.ca/2020/06/01/walkerton-tragedy-ontario-new-water-crisis/ Walkerton Tragedy] in May of 2000, where 2,500 residents of the town fell ill due to ingesting high levels of E.coli bacteria and 7 individuals died due to poor monitoring and maintenance of the drinking water system, the province (Scarfone, 2020)<ref>Scarfone, K. 2020. 20 years after the Walkerton Tragedy, Ontario could be setting itself up for a new water crisis. Safeguarding Freshwater. Environmental Defence. 1 June 2020. Accessed 26 May 2022. https://environmentaldefence.ca/2020/06/01/walkerton-tragedy-ontario-new-water-crisis/</ref> took major overhauling actions to ensure Ontarians drinking water was adequately protected.

Spurred mainly by the [https://environmentaldefence.ca/2020/06/01/walkerton-tragedy-ontario-new-water-crisis/ Walkerton Tragedy] in May of 2000, where 2,500 residents of the town fell ill due to ingesting high levels of E.coli bacteria and 7 individuals died due to poor monitoring and maintenance of the drinking water system, the province (Scarfone, 2020)<ref>Scarfone, K. 2020. 20 years after the Walkerton Tragedy, Ontario could be setting itself up for a new water crisis. Safeguarding Freshwater. Environmental Defence. 1 June 2020. Accessed 26 May 2022. https://environmentaldefence.ca/2020/06/01/walkerton-tragedy-ontario-new-water-crisis/</ref> took major overhauling actions to ensure Ontarians drinking water was adequately protected.

Following an inquiry into the Walkerton event, Justice, O'Connor at the time made over 120 recommendations to better protect the province's drinking water, which have now been implemented and are the foundation of the province's drinking water protection framework. The first of these recommendations was that drinking water should be protected by developing watershed-based source water protection plans, which have been in place since 2006 with the adoption of the [https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/06c22 Clean Water Act] (Government of Ontario, 2021)<ref name="example1">Government of Ontario. 2021. Source protection. Environment and Energy - Drinking Water. 13 October 2021. Accessed: 26 May 2022. https://www.ontario.ca/page/source-protection#section-0</ref>

Following an inquiry into the Walkerton event, Justice, O'Connor at the time made over 120 recommendations to better protect the province's drinking water, which have now been implemented and are the foundation of the province's drinking water protection framework. The first of the [http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/e_records/walkerton/index.html Walkerton Inquiry] recommendations was that drinking water should be protected by developing watershed-based source water protection plans, which have been in place since 2006 with the adoption of the [https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/06c22 Clean Water Act] (Government of Ontario, 2021)<ref name="example1">Government of Ontario. 2021. Source protection. Environment and Energy - Drinking Water. 13 October 2021. Accessed: 26 May 2022. https://www.ontario.ca/page/source-protection#section-0</ref>

==Source Water Protection in Ontario==

==Source Water Protection in Ontario==

Since the Clean Water Act, 2006 was adopted within the province the original recommendations of the [http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/e_records/walkerton/index.html "Walkerton Inquiry"] were able to begin to be implemented. The legislation required municipalities protect their drinking water sources and supplies through prevention by developing collaborative large-scale watershed-based source protection plans or source water protection (SWPP) based on monitoring results and the latest science. When the Clean Water Act was first established the province paid for the cost of developing the preliminary SWPPs.

The Clean Water Act requires municipalities to protect their drinking water sources and supplies through prevention by developing collaborative, watershed-based source water protection plans.

{{textbox|Under the Clean Water Act the legislation describes newly developed source water protection ''areas'' and source water protection ''regions''.  

{{textbox|Under the Clean Water Act the legislation describes newly developed source water protection ''areas'' and source water protection ''regions''.