Source Water Protection Planning for Ontario First Nations Communities: Case Studies Identifying Challenges and Outcomes

Abstract

Abstract:After the Walkerton tragedy in 2000, where drinking water contamination left seven people dead and many suffering from chronic illness, the Province of Ontario, Canada implemented policies to develop Source Water Protection (SWP) plans. Under the Clean Water Act (2006), thirty-six regional Conservation Authorities were mandated to develop watershed-based SWP plans under 19 Source Protection Regions. Most First Nations in Ontario are outside of these Source Protection Regions and reserve lands are under Federal jurisdiction. This paper explores how First Nations in Ontario are attempting to address SWP to improve drinking water quality in their communities even though these communities are not part of the Ontario SWP framework. The case studies highlight the gap between the regulatory requirements of the Federal and Provincial governments and the challenges for First Nations in Ontario from lack of funding to implement solutions to address the threats identified in SWP planning. This analysis of different approaches taken by Ontario First Nations shows that the Ontario framework for SWP planning is not an option for the majority of First Nations communities, and does not adequately address threats originating on reserve lands. First Nations attempting to address on-reserve threats to drinking water are using a variety of resources and approaches to develop community SWP plans. However, a common theme of all the cases surveyed is a lack of funding to support implementing solutions for the threats identified by the SWP planning process. Federal government initiatives to address the chronic problem of boil water advisories within Indigenous communities do not recognize SWP planning as a cost-effective tool for improving drinking water quality.

Moving towards Effective First Nations’ Source Water Protection: Barriers, Opportunities, and a Framework

“…Community members and practitioners indicated that Band Council does not have jurisdiction over these privately held lands; trying to develop a community-wide plan to regulate activities on-reserve is a source of tension and may be quite difficult when it comes to implementation. These findings are consistent with issues with CP lands reported by others [5].…”

“…Indigenous water insecurity is a serious issue impacting the health and wellbeing of Indigenous communities around the world [1][2][3][4][5]. In Canada, poor quality of drinking water has severely impacted many Indigenous communities across the country [3,5,6].…”

“…Indigenous water insecurity is a serious issue impacting the health and wellbeing of Indigenous communities around the world [1][2][3][4][5]. In Canada, poor quality of drinking water has severely impacted many Indigenous communities across the country [3,5,6]. As of 15 February 2020, 61 Indigenous communities remained under long-term drinking water advisories despite ongoing efforts by the federal government to eradicate them [7].…”

Shifting the Framework of Canadian Water Governance through Indigenous Research Methods: Acknowledging the Past with an Eye on the Future

“…While provincial governments regulate water quality for off-reserve communities, there are no comparable regulations in place for water quality on First Nations reserves [6,17,52]. The responsibility for providing and maintaining clean water sources is often shared between Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Health Canada, Environment Canada and First Nations community leadership, which creates numerous challenges with accountability [7,53,54].…”

“…In many cases, federal or provincial governance bodies have delegated water management responsibility to communities, based on the premise that local communities are well positioned to understand and address local water management challenges. Yet in this case, devolution of management authority has occurred as an unfunded mandate, since many local communities lack the financial and technical resources, as well as the governance capacity required to fully provide community water needs [7,8,[15][16][17].…”