The City of Corner Brook will develop an integrated watershed management plan for its water supply area to determine the impact potential activities may have on drinking water quality.

Many municipalities across the province are under pressure to accommodate multiple uses in city watersheds, such as all-terrain vehicle activity, forest management planning, domestic wood cutting, mining, hyrdo-electric development, agriculture, pit and quarry excavation, road development, and recreational activities such as hunting and fishing.

“We have to recognize that water supply areas are more than a source of drinking water,” says Councillor Charlie Renouf, chair of Corner Brook council’s watershed management committee.

“Increasing demand to develop resources in watershed areas – and the impact this pressure may have on municipal water supplies – is becoming cause for public concern not only locally, but in many municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador.”Council also requires a protocol to determine how it may allow some development to occur while still protecting water quality – the city’s top priority, says Renouf. The watershed management plan will assess the impact such activities may have on the water supply, and will develop strategy to minimize the impacts.

The plan will be developed in cooperation with the Western Newfoundland Model Forest (WNMF). The city has been a partner on the Model Forest’s board of directors for 15 years, and has a keen interest in the organization’s ongoing work in integrated resource management, says Paul Barnable, director of community services and the city’s representative on the WNMF board.

“Since becoming a partner with the Model Forest, our relationship has evolved to a level where we are not simply monitoring water quality parameters as we jointly did in the mid-1990s, but are now using the WNMF’s collective knowledge in resource management to build a strong process to secure the city’s drinking water supply.”

The WNMF and the Department of Environment and Conservation’s Water Resources Division recently worked with the Town of Steady Brook to develop a municipal watershed management plan that balances water quality protection with other watershed uses. A municipal watershed management template emerged from the Steady Brook plan, offering guidelines for municipalities to follow when developing their own planning processes.

Corner Brook’s watershed management plan will characterize existing natural conditions and resources of the Corner Brook Lakes watershed, such as water, forest, and wildlife; and will identify current and potential uses, from drinking water to wildlife habitat. A risk assessment will rank potential contaminants from other activities in the watershed according to severity of risk, and an area’s sensitivity will be used to identify management zones. Based on the recommendations of the city’s watershed committee, these zones may be assigned “permitted” or “prohibited” status according to the severity of risk. The plan will map areas in the watershed suitable for various levels of development activity based on the risk of potential water contamination each activity may cause.

Public consultation will be essential to determine areas of the watershed that may require protection, such as water quality, viewscapes, or recreation. Consultations will allow the public opportunities to discuss existing protection measures, and to refine or develop guiding principles for future development, says Mayor Charles Pender.

“I see this project as the realization of council’s commitment to the general public to move forward on producing a watershed management plan that will allow for direct public input while ensuring that, at the end of the process, we have a plan that puts water protection and water quality as our top priorities,” he says. “I am doubly pleased that we will be able to accomplish this by working with our community partners at the WNMF and with the input of the city’s watershed management committee.”

The planning process will advance watershed management planning in the province by testing the template’s ability to translate its tools and techniques to a larger watershed facing a multitude of diverse development challenges, says WNMF general manager Jim Taylor.

“A second template for small- to medium-sized cities will emerge from the Corner Brook plan, and will be available to other municipalities. There is nothing else like this available nationally, so this project will break a lot of ground in watershed management.”

In 1993, the Water Resources Act, which regulates land and water uses, ensured protection for 230 public water supply areas in the province. The City of Corner Brook Act also ensures protection of its watershed. The provincial government has implemented a Multi-Barrier Strategic Action Plan that involves source water protection, water treatment, and water supply system operation and maintenance. It also covers comprehensive monitoring and reporting on drinking water quality, appropriate inspection, abatement and enforcement measures, and operator education and training.

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