FRANCAIS

April 21, 2003

Conservation Minister Steve Ashton today released Manitoba’s Water Strategy which sets out plans to protect the province’s water from source to tap while meeting the needs of all Manitobans.

"This strategy focuses on three main areas--including better planning on a watershed basis, stronger legislation and more investment," said Ashton. "Building on the establishment of water protection initiatives such as the Lake Winnipeg Action Plan and the Drinking Water Office, we are taking a dynamic and flexible approach that demonstrates the government’s commitment to act on sustainable water management in Manitoba."

Highlights of the strategy include:

• the placement of 12 new drinking water officers throughout the province;
• improved livestock regulations; and
• the development of new nutrient management zones to protect water quality.

The province’s ability to inspect and regulate public drinking water systems has been enhanced with the addition of 12 drinking water officers for the Office of Drinking Water.

"Drinking water officers are stationed throughout the province and will work with Manitoba’s water utilities to ensure water treatment and distribution systems are inspected and properly operated, monitored and maintained," said Ashton.

The minister noted that public systems must submit samples for bacterial analysis at least every two weeks to accredited labs. The Drinking Water Advisory Committee report of November 2000 recommended additional improvements in tracking and reporting to ensure the safety of Manitoba’s drinking water supplies. Notification protocols are in place and must be followed if any irregularities are found in tests. Other improvements continue to be developed and implemented for improved response to water quality issues as identified in the advisory committee report.

The minister said the establishment of the office builds on steps taken by the province over the last three years to improve drinking water safety such as re-instating subsidized private and semi-public water bacterial testing and investing millions of dollars to upgrade drinking water systems throughout the province.

Improved livestock regulations include:

• requiring the registration of storage facilities that don’t have permits and expanding inspections of manure storage facilities to include above ground concrete or steel tanks constructed prior to 1998; and
• changing the regulatory threshold to 300 animal units from 400, resulting in up to 800 more livestock operations falling under restricted winter spreading and annual water sampling.

Ashton noted that 16 positions have been assigned to administer the Manitoba Conservation Environmental Livestock Program including staff to conduct inspections and engineers to review storage facility designs.

"These changes build on existing science-based environmental protection measures and support actions developed under the province’s Livestock Stewardship Initiative."

The province is developing new nutrient management zones based on soil classification and topographical features to identify areas more vulnerable to nutrient loss to ground and surface water. Zones will be defined and described in one of four categories with requirements attached to each zone.

"Through our Lake Winnipeg Action Plan we noted that the impact of nutrients on soils and water sources can be a multi-source problem," said the minister. "The nutrient management zone approach takes into consideration a number of factors and will complement new manure management and septic field regulations, provide tools for the existing land use planning system and provide additional science based information on fertilizer application."

Along with today’s announcement the minister noted that the government has already been proactive on a number of water-related initiatives including:

• making use of the Clean Environment Commission to facilitate public involvement and discussion of key environmental stewardship issues;

• introducing the Lake Winnipeg Action Plan;
• introducing the Drinking Water Safety Act--one of the most advanced pieces of drinking water legislation in North America, passed in 2002;
• introducing legislation to ban bulk water removal, passed in 2000;
• challenging the Devils Lake and Garrison Diversion projects to prevent harmful organisms from entering Manitoba waters;
• improved flood protection for both rural and urban Manitobans; and
• developing tighter restrictions on private sewage disposal systems.

"This document builds on the first water management discussion paper the government released in October of 2001 and I would like to thank the Water Strategy Steering Committee and the many organizations and individuals who contributed to its development," said Ashton. "Since that time we have taken a number of actions while refining the strategy to meet current and future plans for the use and protection of this vital resource."

Ashton noted that the United Nations declared 2003 the Year of Fresh Water. "Manitoba is fortunate to have an abundance of fresh water and this strategy provides a plan of action based on a public process to determine sustainable goals and techniques for the management of water."

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