The Source Protection Process and the Assessment Report (AR)

The Assessment Report (AR) summarizes the technical studies that were completed for the Niagara Peninsula Source Protection Area. The AR contains:

• Delineations of Vulnerable Areas including municipal water treatment plant Intake Protection Zones (IPZs), Highly Vulnerable Aquifers (HVAs), and Significant Groundwater Recharge Areas (SGRAs);
• Assessments of activities that would be significant or moderate drinking water threats in these vulnerable areas, particularly with respect to municipal drinking water systems;
• Identification of water quality issues associated with the raw (untreated) water supplied to the municipal water treatment plants, which could be addressed through source protection planning;
• A water budget analysis and water quantity stress assessment for the whole source protection area; and
• General background information that may be useful in developing the Source Protection Plan.

The AR provides the scientific information needed to develop the Source Protection Plan. The AR was amended in May 2011, and approved by the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) in July 2011.

To view the approved AR, please follow the link below to the AR webpage.   The AR webpage provides three links for each chapter of the report.  One link goes to the text for that chapter of the AR.  The other two links are used to view and print the figures associated with that chapter.   To quickly view the figures in a chapter use the link to the figures “web version”.   The “print ready version” of the figures provides a higher resolution and more detail than the “web version”, but will take longer to download. 

Click here to view the MOE approved Assessment Report (AR)

Assessment Report Public Consultation Process
The development of the original AR in 2010 included a significant mandatory consultation process to allow the public, municipalities, and agencies opportunity to provide comments on the AR. The amended AR which was completed in 2011 also went through a public consultation process that included a public meeting, and notices in the paper before it was submitted to the MOE.
If you have questions on the AR or the public consultation process, please contact us at:

Niagara Peninsula Source Protection Authority
c/o Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority,
250 Thorold Road West, 3rd Floor,
Welland, ON L3C 3W2
Fax: 905-788-1121
Email: bwright@npca.ca