Headwater streams and riparian buffer areas should be protected.
The water supply should be considered in all land-use-related planning activities, including transportation, housing and all other types of construction.
Growth in greenfield areas should be minimized by promoting infill development, brownfield re-development and transit-oriented development.
Development that minimizes urbanized area and aggregate regional cover and maximizes groundwater recharge and baseflows should be facilitated.
Stormwater should be handled through on-site storage and infiltration through permeable native soils and bioengineering techniques that facilitate evaporation and transpiration, instead of conveyance through large structural systems.
In addition, the Central Ontario Zone Smart Growth Strategy Sub-Panel should advocate the implementation of the following measures:
Adequate funding for upgrades and essential maintenance of drinking water and sewage treatment systems should be ensured. In particular, Bill 155, The Sustainable Water and Sewage Systems Act, should be supported in terms of full-cost accounting and user pay/full-cost pricing of drinking water and sewage treatment systems.
Ontario's Water Quality Monitoring Network should be expanded and equipped with the newest technologies to provide the surface water quality information required for future population and business growth.
Watershed-based management practices should be implemented as recommended in the Managing the Environment Report.
Stronger policy and regulatory mechanisms should be adopted to address agricultural pollution. Intensive livestock operations should be treated as industrial emissions and should be regulated by the Ministry of the Environment.