A series of public meetings on the protection of municipal drinking water will begin next week.

Fifty percent of people in the Quinte region depend on safe, reliable municipal drinking water, Quinte Conservation says.

This water comes from surface water sources like the Bay of Quinte or groundwater sources like a municipal well. Eleven municipal water sources have been studied with a view to protecting them and now the public is invited to comment.

The Draft Proposed Assessment Report is the technical, science-based report that the Quinte Region Source Protection Committee will use to develop a plan by 2012 to protect local municipal drinking water sources. The report is posted for public review at www.quintesourcewater.ca.
The report assesses the state of groundwater wells in the Villages of Deloro, Madoc and Tweed, and Peats Point in Prince Edward County. It also covers the surface water intakes at Deseronto, Napanee, Ameliasburgh, Wellington, Picton, City of Belleville and Point Anne.

It describes the amount and quality of the source water. It shows the vulnerable areas around each municipal drinking water system where spills, pollution and overuse could harm the water source. Threats to water quality and quantity in each of the vulnerable areas are listed and ranked as low, moderate or significant.

Public meetings are planned for June 7 at Quinte Conservation (Highway 2 just west of Wallbridge-Loyalist Road), June 8 at the Royal Canadian Legion in Picton and June 9 at the Kiwanis Centre in Madoc. Meetings will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. with a presentation at 7:00 p.m.

Those attending can review the document, hear a presentation, view maps and displays, ask questions and provide their comments.

The Draft Proposed Assessment Report is also available for review at the Quinte Conservation office during business hours and at nine other locations, including eight municipal offices, all listed on the quintesourcewater.cawebsite.

Written comments are invited until Friday, June 18, 2010. Comments may be sent to: Quinte Region Source Protection Committee, c/o Keith Taylor, Project Manager, Quinte Conservation, 2061 Old Highway 2, RR#2, Belleville, Ont. K8N 4Z2.

The project is directed and funded by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. Similar source water protection projects are being undertaken in other regions across the province.

Quinte Conservation is a community-based environmental protection agency; one of Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities. More information is available at www.quinteconservation.ca.