To reduce the potential for transport pathways to increase the risk to municipal drinking water sources, municipalities should consider:

a) including, as a condition for approval on relevant development applications, a record of the decommissioning of unused wells in accordance with O. Reg. 903 of the Ontario Water Resources Act (OWRA);
b) the development of municipal by-laws to restrict private wells and septic systems where prescribed drinking water threats would be significant and municipal servicing is in place to provide an option for water and sewage other than the creation of potential transport pathways. The municipality, in consultation with the Risk Management Official, shall be responsible for determining exceptions to these by-laws; and
c) encouraging landowners to improve their wells to meet standards including making landowners aware of any financial incentives which may be available to assist them. If the landowner fails to take appropriate action, the Municipality should draw this deficiency to the attention of the Ministry of Environment (MOE) to enforce the standards under O. Reg. 903 of OWRA or other regulation where applicable. In drawing this deficiency to the attention of the MOE, they should indicate that the deficiency is occurring in a Wellhead Protection Area (WHPA) and therefore may be increasing the risk to a municipal drinking water source.

5.08: Municipalities, and all other implementers, shall establish monitoring
programs as per Section 45 of the Clean Water Act. The information
collected through these monitoring programs shall be included in a
monitoring report that shall be submitted annually to the Upper Thames
River Conservation Authority. The information submitted to the
Conservation Authority shall be consistent with the guidance developed
pursuant to policy 5.02 where that guidance identifies items required to
meet provincial reporting requirements of the implementer or SPA.
Aspects of the guidance which are beyond that which is necessary to
satisfy provincial reporting requirements shall be considered in submitting
the monitoring reports. Monitoring reports are to be submitted by February
1 of each year following the first anniversary of the effective date of the
Source Protection Plan. Monitoring reports shall include information since
the submission of the previous monitoring report to December 31 of the
year previous to the deadline for report submission. For the first report, the
information shall include information from the effective date of the Source
Protection Plan.