Municipal Drains

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The Drainage Act provides for the construction and management of many of the communal drainage systems in rural Ontario.

Municipal Drains are vital to the communities, roads and surrounding lands in rural Ontario. They reduce flooding, improve safety and reduce property damage.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about a Municipal Drain in the Township of Wilmot please email drains@wilmot.ca.

Construction or Improvement of a Municipal Drain

New Drainage Works (Section 4)

If a landowner is having concerns with excess water on their property or need to improve the drainage on their agricultural land they should contact the Township of Wilmot to be put in contact with the Drainage Superintendent to discuss the matter.

The Drainage Superintendent will discuss the matter with you, visit the property and provide you with the best options to improve your drainage. If the Drainage Superintendent suggests you move forward with a municipal drain, you will need to file a Petition for Drainage Works by Owners – Form 1, which will set in motion a project to create a new municipal drain. This falls under Section 4 of the Drainage Act.

It is important for landowners to understand the implications of signing a petition for drainage works, in accordance with the Drainage Act, the landowners who sign the petition acknowledge responsibility for costs incurred, regardless if construction occurs or not.

The Drainage Act process, including drain construction, takes time and there are many variables involved.

Maintenance, Repair and Minor Improvements (Section 74)

Once the drain has been built, the maintenance becomes part of the Municipality's infrastructure.

Municipal Drains constructed under a by-law passed by Council shall be be maintained and repaired by the municipality in which the drain in located. The maintenance, repairs, and minor improvements will be completed at the expense of the lands, roads and utilities outlined in the assessment schedule contained in the engineers report.

Basic maintenance and repair work falls under Section 74 of the Drainage Act. This usually includes work such as clean outs, removal of beavers/dams, repairing/replacing tile, and generally repairing the existing drain in a way that does not detract from the drain's original construction.

If you believe that a Municipal Drain is in need of maintenance, repair or minor improvements please contact drains@wilmot.ca.

Once the drain has been built, the maintenance becomes part of the Municipality's infrastructure.

Major Improvement Projects (Section 78)

If an existing drain requires significant repair and as a result the repair includes changing the original drain's infrastructure in a way that is different from the original engineer report, a Notice of Request for Drain Major Improvement under Section 78 - Repair & Improvement must be filed with the Clerk or Deputy Clerk.

It is recommended that the Drainage Superintendent be consulted prior to submitting the Notice of Request for Drain Major Improvement.

Examples of some projects that would be considered a major improvement include:

Changing the course of the drainage works;
Making a new outlet for the whole of any part of the drainage works;
Constructing a tile drain under the bed of the whole or any part of the drainage works;
Constructing, reconstructing or extending bridges or culverts; and/or
Extending the drainage works to an outlet;

Current Municipal Drainage Projects

Bamberg, Jananna, and Koch Leis (Section 4)

Project Engineer: Stephen Brickman (Headway Engineering)

Engineer Report Filed: 2023-05-08

Project Status: Appeals to Tribunal and Drainage Referee

Next Steps: Hearing before Drainage Referee at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in the Court of the Drainage Referee

Court File No.: CV-23-00001662-0000 (Kitchener)

For the purpose of giving notice of this application to those who may potentially be affected by the result of this application and giving them an opportunity to participate as a party.

Hearing-Related Material is provided below, material is also available to view in full at the Legislative Services customer service counter at 60 Snyder's Road West Baden, ON. If you have any problems viewing the material, or if you need the material in an alternative format, please contact Kaitlin Bos, Municipal Clerk by email kaitlin.bos@wilmot.ca or phone (519) 634 8444 ext. 9228 .

Delton-Riebling (Section 4)

Good/Badenview (Section 4)

Lisbon Drain (Section 74)

Mackie Drain (Section 4)

Nicklas Drain (Section 78)

Petersburg Drain (Section 4 & Section 78)

Queen Street (Section 4)

Smith Dr West Branch - West Nith (Section 4)

St Agatha Drain (Section 78)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Municipal Drain?

A municipal drain is a system to move water. It is created pursuant to a by-law passed by Council. The municipality is then responsible for the construction of the drainage system and future maintenance and repair. Costs are often recovered from the property owners in the watershed of the drain.

Municipal drains are identified by municipal by-law that adopts an engineer's report. These reports contain plans, profiles and specifications defining the location, size and depth of the drain, and how costs are shared among property owners.

Most municipal drains are either ditches or closed systems, such as pipes or tiles buried in the ground. They can also include structures such as dykes or berms, pumping stations, buffer strips, grassed waterways, storm water detention ponds, culverts and bridges. Some creeks and small rivers are now considered to be municipal drains. Municipal drains are primarily located in rural agricultural areas.

What makes municipal drains different from other forms of drainage systems is that they are municipal infrastructure and the municipality is responsible for their management.

How do I find out if there is a Municipal Drain on my property?

Most municipal drains are also shown on the Agricultural Information Atlas website.

You can contact drains@wilmot.ca or phone the Supervisor of Legislative Services / Deputy Clerk and ask them if you have a municipal drain on your property. To find out more information about municipal drains on your property, or for which you are being assessed, request copies of the by-law and engineer's report from your municipality.

The engineer's report defines how a drain affects your property, including:

location of the drain;
watershed of the drain;
size and shape of the drain;
working right-of-way;
your share of drainage project costs.

Before purchasing a property, it is recommended that you investigate how municipal drains may affect it. Municipalities have the right to accumulate the cost of maintaining a drain for up to five years or $5,000. That means you may be billed for work occurring before you owned a property.

Who is responsible for maintaining the Municipal Drain after construction?

The Municipality is responsible for maintaining the municipal drain on behalf of the community of property owners.

The Municipality will periodically arrange to enter onto your property and undertake any necessary work. As a property owner, it is your responsibility to report any problems to the Drainage Superintendent. Do not store materials such as brush, wood or other floatable material near the drain; in a storm they could float away and block the drain. All municipal drains eventually connect with a lake, river or stream. Therefore, do not direct septic system waste, barnyard and manure storage run-off or other pollutants or residential waste directly to these drains.

How does a Municipal Drain benefit my property?

Benefit will vary between different lands, according to their differences of elevation, the quantity of water to be drained from the land, the distance from the municipal drain, and the presence or absence of other existing drains, natural courses and other like factors. A municipal drain may benefit a property owner by raising the value of the property making it more marketable, by increasing the productivity of the land and by preventing water from entering on to it.

Who pays for the cost of construction and maintenance of the Municipal Drain?

I did not own the property when the maintenance was completed, why am I being invoiced for the work?

The costs of maintenance are assessed to the property, not the property owner. The property continues to benefit from the maintenance of the municipal drain regardless of who the owners of the property are. The invoice is directed to the owners of the property at the time of billing out the final costs.

Municipalities have the right to accumulate the cost of maintaining a drain for up to five years or $5,000. That means you may be billed for work occurring before you owned a property.

Tile Drains

Installing tile drainage is a very common land improvement practice among farmers in Ontario. Corrugated plastic tubing, clay and concrete drain tile are installed beneath the surface of agricultural land to drain excess water from the crop root zone. The benefits of tile drainage for crop productivity, farm efficiency and even for reducing environmental impacts have been studied and are generally well known to farmers.

In Ontario, the Tile Loan Program, authorized by the Tile Drainage Act, provides loans to agricultural property owners to help them finance these tile drainage projects.

Tile Loan Program | Overview

Landowners planning to install a tile drainage system on their agricultural land are eligible for a tile loan under this program.

All tile loans have 10-year terms, and repayments are made annually. Landowners are eligible for a loan of up to 75% of the value of the tile drainage work, but the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and municipality may have policies that further restrict the total dollar amount of any loan in any given year. The provincial government sets the program interest rate at a competitive level. This rate is fixed for the full term of the loan, regardless of changes in market interest rates. The interest rate is calculated annually, not semi-annually, as is done by most financial institutions.

The application process is quite simple. Loan application forms, available through the Legislative Services Department, must be presented to the Township of Wilmot Council. Once council approves the application, the owner arranges to have the work completed by a licensed tile drainage contractor (for more information on licensing, see the OMAFRA Factsheet Agricultural drainage licensing). The municipality will inspect the work and may charge a fee for this inspection. Once a month, the municipality prepares loan documents to send to OMAFRA in the amount of all the loans for that month. After processing these documents, OMAFRA issues a cheque to the municipality, which distributes the loan funds to each individual applicant.

The municipality collects the loan repayments from the owner and remits them to OMAFRA. Defaulted payments are rare but are treated in the same manner as unpaid taxes.

The loan can be repaid in full at any time. Contact your municipality to find out the amount still owing at the time of your proposed payout date.

Contacts

Morgan Dykstra
Supervisor of Legislative Services/ Deputy Clerk
60 Snyder's Road West
Baden ON N3A 1A1
T 519-634-8519 ext. 9228, 1-800-469-5576 Toll Free, TTY 1-866-620-2994
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