The Ministry of the Environment Provides Funds To Protect The City’s Drinking Water

TIMMINS, ON —The City of Timmins will receive $75,000 over three years from the Ministry of the Environment to help implement local actions to protect the City’s drinking water source, the Mattagami River.

Funding from the Ontario Source Protection Municipal Implementation Fund was announced earlier in the month. This funding will support municipalities as they implement their locally developed Source Protection Plans. “This is great news for the City of Timmins” commented Luc Duval, Director of Public Works and Engineering. “These funds will be used to support the development of policies and reporting activities mandated by the Source Water Protection Plan. The funding will also strengthen our local actions to protect our drinking water source and enhance our Public Education and Outreach Program.” “I am pleased that this funding has been made available to ensure that the Source Protection Plan can be successfully implemented while minimizing the burden to the City of Timmins”, said Source Protection Authority Chairman Andrew Marks. The Mattagami Region Source Protection Committee has been working with the City of Timmins since 2007 to create a plan to protect local municipal drinking water sources. The Source Protection Plan, submitted to the Ministry of the Environment in August, 2012 is expected to be approved and take effect in 2014. The initiative to protect sources of municipal drinking water is directed and funded by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment under the Clean Water Act, 2006. More details on the fund are available on the Ministry of the Environment website at: http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/environment/en/subject/protection/STDPROD_109373.