The second job of the Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Committee is to prepare Assessment Reports – technical documents about drinking water quality, quantity, vulnerability and threats.

Assessment Reports now posted:
    • Mississippi Valley Source Protection Area
    • Rideau Valley Source Protection Area

— Click here to request a DVD copy

What is an Assessment Report?
An Assessment Report collects and analyzes technical information about local drinking water sources. The focus is studying municipal drinking water systems (municipal wells and intakes) and identifying:

• Vulnerable Areas – areas around the wells and intakes where the source of drinking water could be vulnerable to contamination
• Drinking Water Threats – activities on properties in these vulnerable areas that could contaminate the source of water.

What Goes in an Assessment Report?
The Ministry of the Environment developed rules outlining what information must be included in an Assessment Report, how studies are done and what land use activities are considered a drinking water threat:

• Technical Rules for the Preparation of Assessment Reports
  
• Tables of Drinking Water Threats

Why Develop an Assessment Report?
The Assessment Report will identify land use activities that pose a low, moderate or significant drinking water threat. A Source Protection Plan will then be developed containing policies to address these drinking water threats. Source Protection Plans will focus on addressing significant drinking water threats around municipal wells and intakes. Plans must be written by August 2012.

How Were the Assessment Reports Developed?
The Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Committee is undertook three rounds of public consultation to develop their Assessment Reports:

Preliminary Findings – 2009/2010
The focus of the Assessment Reports is identifying vulnerable areas around municipal wells and intakes – these are called Wellhead Protection Areas and Intake Protection Zones. Wellhead Protection Areas were drafted for municipal wells in Almonte, Carp, Kemptville, Merrickville, Munster, Richmond and Westport and Intake Protection Zones were drafted for municipal intakes in Carleton Place, Ottawa (Britannia and Lemieux Island), Perth and Smiths Falls.

The Committee held 11 public open houses to present preliminary Wellhead Protection Areas and Intake Protection Zones to local property owners and get their feedback.

• Summary of Public Comments on Preliminary Wellhead Protection Areas ( kb)
• Summary of Public Comments on Preliminary Intake Protection Zones ( kb)

Draft Proposed Assessment Report – September, 2010
The Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Committee considered all public comments received during preliminary consultation when developing their Draft Proposed Assessment Report. This report was posted for a 35 day public comment period ending November 5, 2010. Four open houses were held and written comments were accepted. The Committee considered all comments and modified the Report where possible to address comments and concerns.

• Summary of Comments Received on Draft Assessment Reports and How They Were Addressed

Approved Assessment Reports – 2011
The Ministry of the Environment approved the Assessment Report for the Mississippi Valley Source Protection Area on August 4, 2011