Wells Regulation 903, R.R.O. 1990 Amendments
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Background
All water wells in Ontario, including municipal and private drinking water supply wells, agricultural wells, commercial wells, industrial wells, geotechnical test holes and environmental monitoring wells, are governed by the Ontario Water Resources Act and Regulation 903.
Following the contaminated drinking water tragedy in Walkerton, Ontario, in 2000, the Ontario government appointed Justice Dennis O’Connor to conduct the Walkerton Commission of Inquiry and make recommendations to the government relating to safe drinking water and source water protection. Considerable evidence was presented at the Inquiry about the role of Regulation 903 in ensuring the proper construction and decommissioning of water wells. Justice O’Connor’s recommendation to review and update Regulation 903 “to ensure that it requires best construction practices” prompted MOE to announce a provincial groundwater strategy. In April 2002, as part of the new provincial groundwater strategy, MOE posted a notice on the Registry for proposed amendments to Regulation 903. MOE provided a 60-day comment period, yielding 67 comments from stakeholders and the public.
MOE also consulted with the water well industry on the proposed amendments. Regulation 903 was subsequently amended by O. Reg. 128/03 and a decision notice was posted in April 2003. The 2003 amendments included new provisions relating to well tagging, annular seals, abandonment of wells, shallow works, dis- infection and cluster well reporting. The ECO commented on the decision in our 2003/04 Annual Report and identified numerous concerns with the amended regulation. The ECO recommended that MOE “ensure that key provisions of the Wells Regulation are clear and enforceable,” and “provide a plain language guide to the regulation for well installers and other practitioners.”
In March 2007, in response to stakeholder concerns, the ECO’s recommendations, and advice from the Advisory Council on Drinking Water Quality and Testing Standards (now the Ontario Drinking Water Advisory Council), MOE posted a proposal for further draft amendments to Regulation 903 on the Registry for public comment. The amendments were subsequently made in July 2007 by O. Reg. 372/07 and came into force on December 31, 2007.
The amendments made by O. Reg. 372/07 involved a significant re-organization of existing provisions and re-ordering of sections in Regulation 903 “to more closely follow the order of activities in a well’s life cycle from siting the well through construction.” O. Reg. 372/07 also made numerous other amendments intended to improve the clarity and workability of the regulation.
Of the substantive changes to Regulation 903, the most notable include:
- creation of a new class of well technician licence for installing monitoring, sampling, and testing equipment in wells and construction of test holes and dewatering equipment using non-powered equipment (Class 5 licence);
- new exemptions from the Wells Regulation for some types of wells and some low-risk well construction activities;
- new disinfection requirements; and
- expanded well abandonment provisions.
MOE indicated that once the amendments were finalized, the ministry would prepare a Best Practices Manual “to aid well construction industry practitioners in implementing the new requirements of the Regulation.” As of August 2008, MOE had not posted a draft Best Practices Manual on the Registry for comment.
Implications of the Decision
The OWRA regulates a variety of well types, including wells to locate or obtain groundwater, and wells for testing or information gathering. Wells provide a direct conduit from the ground’s surface to underlying aquifers. Poorly constructed, poorly maintained or unsealed abandoned wells, therefore, present a significant vector for contamination to aquifers and the drinking water that they supply.
With approximately 90 per cent of rural Ontarians dependent on wells to obtain their drinking water, and with an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 new wells constructed in Ontario each year, proper well construction and maintenance practices are critical to protecting groundwater resources and preventing contamination of drinking water for a significant portion of Ontario’s population. In addition, with an estimated 500,000 to 750,000 unsealed abandoned water wells in Ontario today and perhaps an additional 6,000 wells being abandoned in Ontario each year, clear and enforceable well abandonment rules are vital to protect human health and the environment.
MOE has stated that the latest amendments to Regulation 903 will “strengthen protection of public health and safe drinking water supplies by helping to prevent contaminants from entering groundwater and other drinking water sources through poorly constructed wells.”
In the past, the ECO has observed problems with Regulation 903 that fall generally into two categories: (1) interpretation and enforceability; and (2) environmental and health protection. The 2007 amendments to Regulation 903 should result in some improvements to the clarity, interpretation and enforceability of the regulation, as well as the regulation’s role in safeguarding the environment and public health.
Process Issue
On August 25, 1998, MOE posted a proposal notice on the Environmental Registry (Registry No. RA8E0025) for “Proposed amendments to Regulation 903 (Water Wells) made under the Ontario Water Resources Act.” The ECO noted that a decision notice had not been posted for this proposal in our 1998, 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 Annual Reports, and noted in the Supplement to our 2003-2004 Annual Report that the outstanding 1998 proposal notice “is potentially confusing to a member of the public who may be tracking this issue.”
As of August 2008, the 1998 proposal notice remains posted on the Environmental Registry despite the fact that two more recent consultations on this regulation have been completed (in 2002 and 2007). To avoid further potential for confusion in the future, the ECO urges MOE to revise the 1998 proposal notice by posting a decision notice without delay, indicating it has been superseded by subsequent developments.
ECO Comment
Regulation 903 is one of the most important tools available to MOE to protect public health and the environment. For too long, Regulation 903 has been difficult to interpret, implement and enforce, exposing groundwater resources in the province to unacceptable and unnecessary risk. The ECO welcomes MOE’s long overdue efforts to clarify and revise this poorly-written regulation and strengthen its environmental and public health protection functions through stricter well construction, disinfection and abandonment requirements.
On the whole, the ECO believes that these amendments will strengthen the regulation of wells in Ontario and, consequently, improve the protection of aquifers and drinking water. MOE addressed many of the deficiencies in the regulation that the ECO had identified in our previous Annual Reports. If MOE follows through with a clearly written and detailed guidance manual, well owners, installers and other practitioners will be better equipped to navigate and apply this complex regulation.
However, many of the public’s concerns with the regulation remain unaddressed, and Regulation 903 will continue to present challenges for stakeholders across the board. The ECO is concerned that Regulation 903 is being used to address too many different issues, and the regulatory system created by Regulation 903 risks becoming unwieldy and unworkable. Further, without adequate resources devoted to wells and groundwater programs, including regular inspections and oversight, MOE will be unable to put the strengthened enforceability of the regulation into action.
For a more detailed review of this decision please see 2007 Review of decision on wells reg amendments.
| This is an article from the 2007/08 Annual Report to the Legislature from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. |
Citing This Article:
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 2008. "Amendments to Regulation 903, R.R.O. 1990 (Wells Regulation)." Getting to K(No)w, ECO Annual Report, 2007-08. Toronto, ON : Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 103-106.
