Tapping into the Oak Ridges Moraine
The Oak Ridges Moraine (the “Moraine”) is an environmentally significant landform that spans over 160 kilometres of rolling hills and river valleys from the Niagara Escarpment to Rice Lake. The Moraine is recognized as a regional groundwater recharge area, providing a source of groundwater to numerous aquifers, drinking water to over 250,000 people, and baseflow to the headwaters of 65 river systems. Urban development may negatively affect the quality and quantity of groundwater on the Moraine. In response to concerns about rapid and extensive development on the Moraine, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) created the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (2002) to protect its ecological and hydrological integrity.
In 2010, Ontarians used the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 (EBR) to file an application requesting a review of the Plan. The applicants assert that the Plan is unable to provide meaningful protection for groundwater aquifers within the Moraine. For example, a proposed development in Fraserville, outside of the Moraine, would pipe water from Millbrook, within the Moraine, without being subject to Plan policies (e.g., preparation of a watershed plan, water budget and water conservation plan). While most municipalities on the Moraine have begun preparing or completed their watershed plans, Peterborough County (where both towns are located) has not started.
Eight months after the application was submitted, the municipality decided not to proceed with the water diversion plan from Millbrook to Fraserville.
Ministry Response
MMAH denied this application on a number of grounds, including:
- The Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, 2001 does not provide the legislative authority to regulate the use of land outside of the Plan area;
- The Provincial Policy Statement, 2005 already includes policies that protect water resources, manage growth and promote efficient land use and development patterns; and
- The environmental impacts of taking water for development are already considered under the Environmental Assessment Act through Class Environmental Assessments or servicing master plans, under the Ontario Water Resources Act through Permits to Take Water (PTTWs), and under the Clean Water Act, 2006.
For the full text of the ministry decision, see our website at www.eco.on.ca.
ECO Comment
The ECO believes that MMAH’s decision not to review the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan was unreasonable: the ministry failed to address the central concern of the applicants that Moraine groundwater is insufficiently protected from development outside of the Plan area. The applicants provided the example of the proposed Millbrook/Fraserville water diversion plan to illustrate a gap in provincial policy that allows development outside of the Oak Ridges Moraine to use Moraine groundwater. The ECO believes that failure to address this serious gap and protect vulnerable Moraine groundwater from development both within and outside of the Plan area will undermine the objectives of both the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, 2001 and the Plan.
To protect the hydrological integrity of the Moraine, the Plan stipulates that municipalities shall prepare watershed plans, water budgets and conservation plans, and that major development proposals within the Moraine must conform to them. However, there are no such requirements for development proposals in areas adjacent to the Oak Ridges Moraine, even if Moraine water is used. The ECO believes that if an adjacent municipality seeks to take Moraine water, it should be required to adhere to a watershed plan, water budget and conservation plan.
The province regulates water takings through PTTWs, within and outside of the Oak Ridges Moraine. While the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) requires that applicants identify whether or not water will be taken from the Oak Ridges Moraine, it does not require applicants to show how the proposal meets Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan policies, watershed plans, conservation plans or water budgets. The Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, 2001 requires that municipal land use decisions shall be consistent with the Plan; however, there is no specific requirement that instruments (such as PTTWs) issued by the MOE must be consistent with the Plan, watershed plans, conservation plans or water budgets. Given that the intent of the Plan is to protect water resources in the Moraine, this is a significant oversight. MMAH and MOE should make appropriate amendments to the Plan and PTTW policies to ensure that all PTTWs are consistent with the Plan and local watershed plans.
This application highlights the fact that MMAH does not actively oversee consistent implementation by municipalities, or monitor compliance with, or effectiveness of the Plan’s policies. For example, while the Plan requires that Peterborough County prepare watershed plans for every watershed whose streams originate within the municipality’s area by 2003, the county has failed to do so. MMAH’s self-defined role mainly involves ensuring that municipal official plans and by-laws conform to the Plan, releasing technical guidance documents and mapping features. Monitoring the performance of land use policies is vital to ensure that they are meeting their objectives, especially the on-the-ground ecological and hydrogeological consequences of decision making. Genuine monitoring of performance can identify when objectives are not being met and amendments are required. Nearly ten years after the Plan’s approval, MMAH has failed to monitor the effectiveness or implementation of Plan policies, leaving the job to environmental organizations, such as the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation and Monitoring the Moraine.
In addition, the ECO is deeply troubled that MMAH has systematically denied every single EBR application that it has received since 1994. The Ontario Legislature has given Ontarians the right to request that the government consider changes to its policies when deficiencies come to light. When a ministry rejects every request over a 17-year period, it creates the valid perception that every application will be rejected no matter what issues are raised. Moreover, the ministry should not use scheduled reviews of its planning system, such as the review of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan set to begin in 2015, as an excuse not to remedy current issues that may be exacerbated by waiting. This application was clearly a missed opportunity for MMAH to examine and address gaps within the Plan that threaten Moraine groundwater.
| Recommendation 11:
The ECO recommends that MMAH amend the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan to ensure that Moraine groundwater is protected from development outside of the Moraine. |
For a more detailed review of this application, please refer to Section 5.5.1 of the Supplement to this Annual Report. For ministry comments, please see Appendix C.
| Previous section: Reviewing the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993: An Opportunity for Renewed Engagement |
| Next section: The Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation |
| This is an article from the 2010/11 Annual Report to the Legislature from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. |
Citing This Article:
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 2011. "Tapping into the Oak Ridges Moraine." Engaging Solutions, ECO Annual Report, 2010/11. Toronto: The Queen's Printer for Ontario. 120-122.
