The joint Mississippi Valley and Rideau Valley Source Protection Authority Boards of Directors are pleased to announce the names of 13 people appointed to the local Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Committee (SPC).
Representing all watershed municipalities are Scott Bryce (CAO, Village of Westport), Alex Cullen and Christine Leadman (Councillors, City of Ottawa), Paul Knowles (CAO, Carleton Place), and Eleanor Renaud (Councillor, Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley).
Representing economic sectors are Richard Fraser (agriculture), Peter McLaren (agriculture), Domenic Idone (aggregates) and Beverly Millar (small business).
Other members include George Braithwaite (rural general public), Carol Dillon (Friends of the Tay), Patricia Larkin (non-governmental organizations) and Mary Trudeau (Ottawa Riverkeeper).
These 13 members (plus two to be confirmed) will be working with SPC Chair Janet Stavinga to guide drinking water source protection planning work in the two watersheds over the next five years. Some administrative details need to be worked out before the final two appointments can be made, these should be resolved shortly.
Mississippi Valley Chair Mark Burnham said After a thorough public search, I am confident that a qualified, competent and community-minded group of people has been assembled to steer our drinking water protection efforts. A sincere thanks to all of them for stepping forward and taking on this very important task.
We are excited about starting work with this talented group of individuals under the leadership of Janet Stavinga. They represent a diverse range of drinking water perspectives. Their level of experience and enthusiasm will undoubtedly result in sound plans to protect our local drinking water sources. commented Rideau Valley Chair Alan Arbuckle.
The first order of business for the Mississippi-Rideau SPC is a provincial training session in late November to be followed by the first Source Protection Committee meeting in early December (date and place to be determined). The public will have a chance to meet this distinguished group of citizens at a Meet and Greet Hour prior to their first meeting.
The formation of the local Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Committee is a result of the Clean Water Act (CWA) which was passed by the Ontario Legislature in December, 2006. The CWA is part of Ontario s response to the Walkerton tragedy of 2001. The CWA prescribes a process of watershed-based research, analysis and actions rooted in good science, public participation and sustained effort for keeping Ontario s municipal drinking water safe. The province is divided into 19 Source Protection Regions for purposes of source water protection. Each of these 19 regions has a Source Protection Committee directing the production of Source Protection Plans to protect municipal drinking water sources in their area. The Mississippi-Rideau is one of those 19 regions.
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