December 17, 2019

February 17, 2020 When I was a law student, I took advantage of an opportunity to take a course in “Planning Law” from a professor with a passion for municipal governance. I learned a lot, and it was fascinating to explore some of the ways that municipal governments contribute to the intricate web of institutions that shape day-to-day life in Canada.  Recently, the Municipality of the County of Colchester took an important step to protect the environment in Nova Scotia and, in doing so, highlighted one of the many ways that municipal governments can contribute to ecological governance in this province. Section 106 of Nova Scotia’s Environment Act allows operators of water works to designate certain areas as “protected water areas”. To qualify for designation, the area must surround any source or future source of water supply for a water works. Subsection 106(6) of the Act states that when a water works operator designates a protected water area, the operator can also request that the provincial Environment Minister make regulations to protect the area as needed. Nova Scotia has twenty-four protected water area designations, most of which have regulations that limit activities in the watershed. Nova Scotia’s French River Watershed is the source of drinking water for the…