Ontario vegetable growers want legislative change on water controls
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Government
A key priority for the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association this year is getting waste and rainwater from horticultural farms regulated under the province's Nutrient Management Act rather than by the Environmental Protection Act, says newly elected chair Ray Duc.
Duc, a Niagara-on-the-Lake grape and tender fruit grower, says some farmers are being told to get environmental compliance approvals issued by the provincial Environment Ministry to handle their waste water and rainwater that runs off their farms. But the approvals have a hefty price tag with some farmers facing costs of $25,000 to get them.
"Some of these are small farms," he adds.
Duc says even with waste and rainwater being regulated under the Nutrient Management Act, the environment ministry would "still have to police it but we'd be working with OMAFRA (the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs)."
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