WET 219 - Applied Water Law

The Walkerton Inquiry is an independent Commission set up to examine the contamination of the water supply in Walkerton, Ontario, by E.Coli bacteria and to look into the future safety of the water supply in Ontario. The Commission's findings and recommendations will be presented to the Ontario government and made public.

Every year, approximately 470 Canadians are infected with E. coli bacteria, which can cause severe illness and, in a small minority of cases, death. Though the illness has been called “hamburger disease,” based on its association with ground beef patties containing infection-causing E. coli, it can be transmitted through a variety of other foods, untreated water and contact with the fecal matter of infected people and animals. Several deadly, high-profile E. coli outbreaks have occurred in Canada since the 1980s. They have resulted in greater public awareness, as well as changes in regulations and health practices.

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on June 12, 2000.

The implications of a public health emergency on a community may be devastating and long-term. The severity of the implications depends on the gravity of the emergency and the capacity of individuals and communities to respond to and recover from its effects. However, the long-term implications of emergencies are often excluded from disaster management research making it difficult to determine whether communities are truly able to achieve and maintain resilience post-crisis. This interdisciplinary, qualitative study examined the impacts of the May 2000 Escherichia coli outbreak in Walkerton, Canada sixteen years post-outbreak on the present-day resilience status of the community. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with a purposeful sample of 29 Walkerton community members. The data were transcribed verbatim and coded using conventional content analysis to identify themes inductively. The study's findings reveal the importance of various elements of the social capital dimension in facilitating (i.e., capacity building, positive perspective) and hindering (i.e., ongoing health effects) the community's collective resilience status today both directly and indirectly. Some elements, including local economy, local government, rural community characteristics, preparedness, and reputation act as both facilitators and barriers to the social capital component of community resilience. The findings from this work are critical for designing preparedness and recovery programs for emergency situations, particularly in rural communities. They also suggest disaster management program plans and strategies for rural communities should encompass a proactive, long-term, community-centered approach integrating social capital. See section 2 Case study community: Walkerton, Canada section found on page 197

The investigations into the tragedies exposed flaws in systems with fragmented responsibility, unenforceable guidelines, downloaded infrastructure costs, and deregulated and/or privatized monitoring programs.

Drinking water management in Canada is complex, with a decentralized, three-tiered governance structure responsible for safe drinking water throughout the country. The current approach has been described as fragmented, leading to governance gaps, duplication of efforts, and an absence of accountability and enforcement. Although there have been no major waterborne disease outbreaks in Canada since 2001, a lack of performance improvement, especially in small drinking water systems, is evident. The World Health Organization water safety plan approach for drinking water management represents an alternative preventative management framework to the current conventional, reactive drinking water management strategies. This approach has seen successful implementation throughout the world and has the potential to address many of the issues with drinking water management in Canada. This paper presents a review and strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats analysis of drinking water management and governance in Canada at the federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal levels. Based on this analysis, a modified water safety plan (defined as the plan-do-check-act (PDCA)-WSP framework) is proposed, established from water safety plan recommendations and the principles of PDCA for continuous performance improvement. This proposed framework is designed to strengthen current drinking water management in Canada and is designed to fit within and incorporate the existing governance structure.

Background: Questions regarding control over a water fluoridation system in a British Columbia (BC) community led to a drinking water management survey in 1997-98. Method: A questionnaire was constructed based on published drinking water control and management criteria and was sent to 91 communities. Results: 73/91 surveys were returned (80% response rate); 31 reported a protected water supply system, 40 reported logging and/or cattle grazing in watershed areas, 25 reported a lack of primary disinfection. Water fluoridation was reported in 12 locations, 3 of which did not monitor fluoride levels. Testing for protozoans was done routinely in 19 locations, 15 using approved laboratories. 15 water contamination events were reported, 9 of biological origin. Statistically significant associations were found between contamination events and: wooden delivery systems, lack of primary chlorination, increased number of protozoan tests, and increased number of personnel. Interpretation: At the time of the survey in British Columbia, a number of communities were vulnerable to preventable drinking water contamination