Recent events in Canada, particularly the bacteriological contamination of drinking water supplies in Walkerton Ontario in May 2000, resulting in 7 deaths and 2,300 illnesses, and in North Battleford, Saskatchewan in May 2001, causing over 100 illnesses, have focussed public attention on the management and quality of local drinking water supplies.
This paper provides an overview of evolution and structure for management of water resources at local level in Canada, including source water protection and the operation and regulation of communal water systems. It examines the role of the federal government, and provincial and local government agencies in local water management. The arrangements in the province of Ontario are used as an illustrative case study, as they are typical of the systems in place across Canada.
Canada was generally regarded as having developed relatively complete and sophisticated systems for local water management. However, the Walkerton and North Battleford incidents have highlighted a number of significant gaps in the current structures, particularly with respect to the protection of source waters, and the role of senior governments in the oversight and support of the delivery of water supplies by local agencies.
