The Ontario government passed the Clean Water Act to help protect drinking water at the source, as part of an overall commitment to safeguard human health and the environment.

The legislation sets prevention as its fundamental principle. Keeping the sources of our drinking water free of contamination is smarter, safer and more effective than cleaning up problems after the fact.

A key focus of the legislation is the production of locally developed, science-based drinking water source protection assessment reports and source protection plans.