Priority Research Areas for Protecting Sources of Drinking Water in Ontario

Executive Summary

“Source water protection” is a vital component of a multi-tiered approach to safeguarding the quality and quantity of drinking water in Ontario. However, there are a variety of uncertainties related to determining the most appropriate methods and practices for protecting sources of drinking water. Working as a partnership with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (OMOE), the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), and the Centre for Alternative Water Treatment at Sir Sandford Fleming College, the Institute for Watershed Science (IWS) at Trent University worked over the period from September, 2006 to September, 2007 to identify the strategic research needs for source water protection in Ontario. Under the terms of reference for this task, the IWS was asked to identify the research needs related to four specific themes:

• Theme 1: Intake protection zones (IPZs), with a focus on Great Lakes IPZs
• Theme 2: Land use impacts on watershed level source water protection
• Theme 3: Watershed scale risk mitigation techniques
• Theme 4: Water quantity management

An additional theme within the MOU (i.e. Theme A) included “Modelling Tools and Spatial Analysis Techniques supporting SWP decision making”. These tools can be applied to all four of the themes identified above.
In the initial phase of this project, the IWS consulted with experts and practitioners in source water protection to poll their opinions on the strategic research needs related to the four project themes. Following this consultation phase, the IWS continued to refine the research needs identified under the research themes. As shown in Table 1, several of the research needs that were identified through this process were cross-cutting topics that are common to Themes 1, 2, 3 and 4. Therefore, the IWS proceeded with the next phase of this task by focusing on the broad research categories (i.e. Focus Areas) summarized in Table 1. Through a series of consultations with the Science Advisory Committee of the IWS, a final report was prepared that reviewed the current state of the science and provided the context for a series of recommendations on the research priorities identified for each Focus Area. The final report, which is available as downloadable pdf document, provides a total of 38 recommendations for priority areas of research.

Theme 1: Great Lakes Intake Protection Zones;

Theme 2: Land Use Impacts on a Watershed Level;

Theme 3: Watershed Scale Risk Mitigation Techniques; and

Theme 4: Water Quantity Management

Science Advisory Committee Review

As the final phase of the project, the Science Advisory Committee of the IWS met for a one day workshop to review and prioritize the 38 research priorities. Each of the nine research areas of the Final Report and each of the four themes of the MOU provided a framework for the prioritization process, so that at least one recommendation was made for each research area and theme, respectively. This process resulted in a final list of nine recommendations for research initiatives of the very highest priority:

1. Develop a standardized guidance document to determine the most appropriate modelling approach for IPZ delineation”, for determining the “Time-of-Travel” input parameter and what constitutes a “Worst-Case Scenario” and, establish consensus regarding which meteorological events should be used as input parameters for IPZ delineation
2. Establish criteria for assessment of microbial issues in source waters
3. Evaluate available models for contaminant fate and transport (for pathogens, nutrients, chemicals, etc)
4. Identify, evaluate and characterize groundwater – surface water interactions over a range of spatial scales, through field research, data analysis, tool development, modelling, and testing of emerging methods for model calibration.
5. Investigate precipitation-derived groundwater recharge, with emphasis on the identification, assessment and evaluation of focused ‘significant’ recharge areas.
6. Investigate the capacity of the natural wetlands and riparian areas to attenuate contaminants.
7. Evaluate the effectiveness, capital costs, maintenance costs and lifecycle costs of Best Management Practices for storm water control.
8. Assesses the relative contributions of contamination from point and non-point sources to surface water and groundwater in both rural and urban environments.
9. Determine hydrological flow paths and the transport of contaminants in tile drained agricultural fields and evaluate the impact of tile drainage and municipal collector drains on groundwater recharge.

These nine research projects were viewed as key to developing safe and plentiful sources of drinking water for Ontario communities. The provincial ministries of the OMOE and OMNR will review these recommendations in the context of developing a comprehensive research strategy for source water protection in Ontario.