Municipal Drains

These are the most commonly used municipal drain forms. Please select the form that best suits your needs, complete the form, and submit it to the drainage superintendent.

• Petition for new drainage works
• Request for drain maintenance/repair (Section 74/Section 79
• Request for minor drain improvement
• Request for a major drain improvement

Additional forms can be found in Ontario's Central Forms Repository.

Forms can be submitted electronically by email, in-person or by mail to 14 Mill Ave, Zurich ON, N0M 2T0.

Once a by-law adopting the engineer’s report is passed, a municipal drain becomes part of the Municipality’s infrastructure to maintain and repair on behalf of the community of property owners.

Maintenance and repairs can be requested by submitting the appropriate form to the drainage superintendent. Forms can be found in the Links to Drain Forms section.

Property owners are responsible for reporting municipal drain concerns to the Municipality. Do not perform the work yourself.

Maintenance and repair 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.

All municipal drains eventually connect with a lake, river or stream. Therefore, do no direct septic system waste, barnyard and manure storage run-off or other pollutants or residential waste directly into these drains. Spills should be reported immediately.

To minimize the cost for maintenance, landowners are encouraged to:

• Regularly maintain bank grasses and trees to reduce overgrowth and drain blockages.
• Leave a buffer strip between crops and drain banks to reduce erosion.
• Refrain from storing materials such as brush or other floatable material near the drain that could float away and block the drain during a storm or spring runoff.

The construction of a new municipal drain begins with a landowner submitting a petition and follows the process outlined by Section 4 of the Drainage Act. The petition form can be found in the Links to Drain Forms section. The completed form must be submitted to the drainage superintendent.

Municipal drains are identified by a 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 amongst property owners in terms of the construction and future maintenance.

The Municipality of Bluewater is responsible for maintaining and repairing its municipal drains. Under the Drainage Act, the drainage superintendent or contractors and engineers authorized by the Municipality may enter onto a property to inspect the drain and complete any necessary work.

All lands, roads, and utilities that are within the watershed of a municipal drain are responsible for the costs of maintenance of that drain. The cost to each property owner will differ based on the assessment schedule as set out in the engineers report for each municipal drain.

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. Invoices are 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. Buyers and sellers of property within Bluewater are encouraged to inquire about any outstanding municipal drain costs that may affect the property.

Many farmers install tile drains to improve drainage on their land. The Tile Drainage Act provides for loans to agricultural property owners to help finance these projects.

Tile drains may be made of corrugated plastic tubing, clay, or concrete drain tile are installed beneath the surface of agricultural land to drain excess water from the crop root zone. These private drainage systems are different than municipal drains. 

You can visit the Agricultural Information Atlas (AgMaps) site. Once past the agreement of terms, navigate to the layers tab and choose "select map layers." It will list different layers to add to the map. Expand the options next to "Environment/Base Data." Make sure the "Agricultural Tile Drainage" option is selected. You will be able to zoom to your property on the map and see the random and systematic tile that exists. Please note, this map is not provided by the Municipality of Bluewater so if you have any questions about the map or that website, please contact the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness.

The municipal drain process can be long with many steps. These websites can clarify the process and offer more information.

• Municipal Drain FAQ (Province of Ontario)
• Drainage legislation and common law (Ontario)
• Understanding Drainage Assessments
• Property sales and the Drainage Act