Kathryn Tucker

Kathryn is presently completing her Master of Laws degree in environmental law at Vermont Law School. She received her Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Civil Law degrees from McGill University in 2007 and is now a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Having worked with various non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations, Kathryn chose to enter the legal profession after working at the judicial reform headquarters of the Organization of American States in Santiago, Chile. She articled with Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and has since worked for Ecojustice (formerly Sierra Legal Defence Fund).
Originally from British Columbia, Kathryn holds an undergraduate degree in History and Global Studies, with a specialization in Latin America, from Queen’s University.

Fellowship Project Description

For over 25 years the Ontario government has been promoting the ecosystem approach for watershed management. In fact, many plans and policies in Ontario already claim to have implemented it. The challenge is determining whether the ecosystem approach is truly being applied. This study seeks to make this determination by attempting to untangle Ontario’s water laws, regulations, and policies. Presently, the web of existing regulations is not a coherent body. The many ministries and administrative bodies charged with managing this resource, with their various different mandates and responsibilities, further complicate this assessment. Another difficulty in undertaking this analysis is that no one model exists for applying the ecosystem approach.

The ecosystem approach is defined as “a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way” by the Fifth Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Though 12 guiding principles are set out to assist in its application, it is specifically designed to be flexible and adaptable. This flexibility is fundamental to the ecosystem approach as it allows local communities to adapt this governance model to their needs and realities. Thus communities can address their economic interests and water-use priorities while contending with already established legal frameworks, institutional structures, and social attitudes.

In recent years, the Ontario government has become more committed to implementing the ecosystem approach for watershed management. One important trigger was the Walkerton Tragedy in 2000 which led to a series of important recommendations in Commissioner O’Connor’s reports. The result has been a commitment to take seriously the protection of drinking water sources. The government consequently adopted several new pieces of legislation, including the Safe Drinking Water Act (2002), the Sustainable Water and Sewage Systems Act (2002 not yet proclaimed), the Nutrient Management Act (2002), the Drinking Water Systems Regulation (O. Reg. 170/03), and the Clean Water Act (2006). Unfortunately these efforts are limited to drinking water, as opposed to all watersheds in Ontario. They are, however, the beginning of addressing the issues and will serve as an important piece of adopting the ecosystem approach.

A deliberate legal strategy must be developed to successfully implement the ecosystem approach. As such, laws and policies are critical to either facilitating or constraining the application of an ecosystem approach in watershed management. Only when a systematic and enforceable plan is implemented can we expect to achieve more sustainable resource governance.