Protecting What We Value Introduction and Context The County of Brant has initiated an update to its Official Plan. An Official Plan, is a document that outlines a municipality’s general land use planning policies in ways that plan for future growth. The process of preparing a new Official Plan requires a Municipal Comprehensive Review to ensure the Official Plan aligns with provincial land-use planning documents. The County of Brant Official Plan must follow the Growth Plan for the Greater Golder Horseshoe, 2019, reflect policy direction from the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020, and incorporate the County’s strategic initiatives, all to create an Official Plan that best suits the County of Brant. To plan for the future, the County will seek guidance from the Province of Ontario and input from the community and key stakeholders, to help create updated policy directions that will help guide our new Official Plan. One of the ways to begin discussions and receive valuable feedback is through the presentation of themed discussion papers. These papers are intended to provide background information on specific topics to help the discussion of important issues and objectives for growth management and land use. Community support is essential to creating and implementing an Official Plan that best reflects a community’s goals. Contents Water Resources Systems ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Natural Heritage Systems........................................................................................................................................... 5 Mineral Aggregate and Petroleum Resources ........................................................................................... 7 Agriculture Systems ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 Cultural Heritage Resources .................................................................................................................................... 9 Engage with Us ................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Page 2 Executive Summary The County of Brant is rich in natural resources. Through the Municipal Comprehensive Review process and the creation of a new Official Plan, the County of Brant has an opportunity to update long-term visions and planning framework to create a sustainable approach to growth and development. For the protection and management of our assets, it’s important that the County has a plan with policies that support our values. Through protecting what is most valuable to us, we can enhance the identity of the County of Brant as a charming, prosperous, and inclusive place to live, work, and playi. With a review of the current policies in place, the guiding policies of the Growth Plan and Provincial Policy Statement, and practices in other municipal settings, this informative starting point will help guide discussions about planning for the future of the County of Brant. Key discussion items will encourage community feedback on opportunities and challenges that the County of Brant may be faced with as we protect assets like the County’s agricultural land, water resources, and cultural heritage. As consideration is given to policies that will best protect the County’s resources, several key resources and systems have been explored below. Key Discussion Items Water Resources Systems The protection of the quality and quantity of water in the County of Brant and beyond, is essential to the wellbeing of humans for uses such as drinking water, farming, fishing and recreational activities. Water is also important in supporting healthy ecosystems including wetlands, rivers, fish and wildlife habitat. To provide long-term protection of water resources, it is important to identify the location of key hydrologic areas and key hydrologic features as part of a water resources system. The County relies on ground water and aquifers for the supply of drinking water and to sustain healthy ecosystems through base flow for creeks, lakes and wetlands. The County’s environmental health and social wellbeing is linked to the protection of ground water. The Clean Water Act protects sources of municipal drinking water, including wells and surface water intake zones, from sources of contamination. There are protections from hazards including waste, sewage, manure and biosolids, fertilizers, pesticides, road salt, storage of snow and other chemicals. The County of Brant is in the Lake Erie Source Protection Region. Two source water protection plans were developed to identify vulnerable areas and threats, as well as policies on permitted uses and activities. Page 3 As part of the Source Water Protection program, inventories have been completed on ground water recharge and discharge areas, vulnerable aquifers, permanent and intermittent streams and wetlands. Data gaps remain on surface water contribution areas associated with headwater areas, which contribute to base flow volumes and are significant to the overall surface water flow volumes in a watershed. Mapping has not been completed on seepage areas and springs. What features make up a Water Resources System? ii A Water Resource System is a system of ground water features and areas, surface water features, and hydrological functions, which provide the water resources necessary to sustain healthy aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and human water consumption. The water resource system will comprise key hydrologic features and key hydrological areas. Key hydrologic areas include significant ground water recharge areas, highly vulnerable aquifers, and significant surface water contribution areas that are necessary for the ecological and hydrologic integrity of a watershed. Key hydrologic features include permanent streams, intermittent streams, inland lakes and their littoral zones, seepage areas and springs, and wetlands. As an effective way to manage water resources, the Growth Plan requires municipalities, in partnership with conservation authorities, to undertake watershed planning. Watershed planning provides a framework for the protection of water resources, the management of human activities, land, water, aquatic life and resources within a watershed and for the assessment of cumulative, cross-jurisdictional and cross-watershed impacts. A plan typically assesses characteristics of a watershed including water budget, nutrient loading, extreme weather events, modelling based on forecasted growth and servicing, identification, and protection of water resource systems and includes an environmental monitoring program to inform subwatershed planning. Subwatershed planning uses information from a watershed plan to consider existing development and evaluate land use scenarios. It is used to inform policies to protect hydrologic and natural heritage features, areas, functions and linkages. Situations and information specific to the subwatershed are used to establish effective objectives, actions, thresholds, targets and best management practices for development, water and wastewater servicing and stormwater management. Page 4 Water resource planning helps create policies that protect our valuable water resources through comprehensive, integrated and long-term approach which will not only help reduce the negative impacts large-scale development can have on these resources, but will also help the County of Brant be proactive and resilient to the effects of climate change on the environment. Natural Heritage Systems The County of Brant is rich with diverse natural features. These features include forests, wetlands, rivers, valleys, and fish and wildlife habitats providing many well-known benefits to residents, businesses and visitors. The County has mapped a natural heritage system which prevents development, in line with Provincial policies requiring the protection of natural features for the long term. Features included in the designation primarily consist of areas regulated by conservation authorities including wetlands, streams, and flooding and erosion hazards. Woodlands located outside of the natural heritage system have not been afforded the same protection, as development may be permitted if it is demonstrated Figure 1 - Provincial Natural that there are no negative impacts on the feature. Heritage System One of the key challenges will be determining how to protect our diverse natural areas. As we balance the population growth, intensification and overall demand for land in the County of Brant, protecting our natural features for the long- term is more important than ever. When the Growth Plan was updated in 2017, stronger protection was provided for natural features and natural heritage systems located outside of settlement areas and outside of The Greenbelt Plan. The County is required to identify a natural heritage system recognizing that it may vary in size and form in settlement areas, rural areas and prime agricultural areas. Natural heritage systems play an important role in addressing climate change and building resilience as further explored in the ‘How We Green’ discussion paper. Page 5 Environment Canada has prepared a framework that provides science-based information related to natural systems and biodiversity to ensure that there is adequate habitat to sustain minimum viable wildlife