Ontario’s Huron County has announced $400,000 in funding towards the Huron County Clean Water Project, an initiative that has offered grants to conscientious landowners since 2005.
Huron County’s website calls the program “one of the most successful on-the-ground water quality improvement projects in the province.” It offers grants of up to $5,000 for projects like erosion control and wetland creation, and within four years of its introduction, had instigated 1,300 clean water projects by citizens in the Huron area. Among these projects is the fencing of cattle out of 34 kilometres of streams in an effort to protect surface water, the planting of 150 hectares of trees. To protect groundwater, 306 faulty private wells have been upgraded, while 355 unused wells have been decommissioned in an effort to eliminate individual sources of pollution.
According to Huron News Now, the county has contributed $1.75 million since 2005 into individual clean water projects across the region. Combined with funding from a number of other sources, such as the Canada-Ontario Environmental Farm Plan cost-share program and Trees Ontario, the total value of clean water projects across the region is more than $5.8 million.
The Clean Water Project offers funding covering up to 50 per cent of the costs for eligible projects.
