The Environmental Coalition made a presentation at the public consultation on the draft Water Act, April 12 at Poole’s Corner. Here’s some of what Daniel MacRae and Ann Wheatley had to say:

“Legislation aimed at preservation and conservation is paramount in moving forward to protect our water, but it’s not enough.  In this province, fish kills and anoxia are recurring, predictable events. At the same time, people are, with reason, concerned about high levels of Nitrates in their drinking water. As strong as the Act may be in terms of dealing with contaminants after the fact, there does not seem to be anything about preventing contamination from occurring in the first place.

While it’s true that agriculture is not the only source of contamination of water, much can be attributed to overdependence on chemical inputs such as pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers, and practices such as fall plough
ing with no cover crops, removal of hedgerows, inadequate crop rotation & buffer zones. We acknowledge that many farmers are caring for the land and water, but really, we can’t dance around the problem. Within the act there should be some indication of how contamination of water will be prevented. While the particulars may indeed be contained within other pieces of legislation, there should be something within the actual water act that establishes those links, and maybe even calls for regular review of pertinent Agriculture and Land Use Acts and Regulations to ensure that all possible measures are in place to prevent contaminants from entering our water.”

Read the whole presentation here: ECOPEI – Draft Water Act April 2017.